Borderline
by Sharpiemarks
Summary: "Rule number 5: You belong to me." Daisuke should have known from the time those words passed through those perfect lips, that he should run. But from that moment, it seems the decision was no longer his to make. He'd become a prisoner, but when straddling the thin line between pain and pleasure, would he ever want to break free? DaiXDark AU Rape/abuse/hurt and a little FLUFFYNESS!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, everyone! This is my second attempt at a story, as I've encountered some serious writer's blockage on my first one. *Cry* But! Due to a sudden idea, and the request/threat from a rather homicidal friend, I have here, a new work in progress. Hope you enjoy it, if only just a little. For MuffincupPrincess (Codename for Janie), you little terrorist, you.**

**Disclaimer:** Of all of the main characters in this story, I own absolutely none of them. Wah!

**Warning!:** Because I truly care for you, as the reader, I'll inform you that during the course of this story there will be abuse, rape, and man-boy love/ guy-on-guy action/ pole-to-hole, whatever you wanna call it. If you don't like gay couples, this in not the place for you. Sorry! And if you're one of those people who reads a story without reading the header first, and encounter an unpleasant surprise along the way; afterward scrolling up to read said neglected header, do not say that you weren't forewarned. If, however, you are someone who's foaming at the mouth for yaoi, then for heaven's sake, disregard and read on already!

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

_ Must the world, in its entirety i.e. people included, lose all sense of the word normal? Normal as in, nice house, two cars, good-paying job, approximately two-point-five children, a well-matched couple to support them, and a puppy who does not have the insatiable urge to crap in every yard on the street. I suppose not._ Daisuke Niwa grumbled to himself as he sat at the "kiddie" table with children of ages six and below. Daisuke, being a seventeen-year-old would-be third year in high school, felt that he had the privilege, no, the right to sit with the adults attending his father's wedding. It's only fair seeing that not only was he sitting at this table for tots, but the chick who had the pleasure of marrying his father was no less than twenty years of age with an IQ that, if squared, would still be considerably lower than all of these snot-nosed brats put together. This girl was most likely looking for a rich old guy, who would die and leave her with lots of pretty green stuff to run her greedy little fingers through, however, Daisuke's father was only forty-two, so she would either have to wait until all the stuff she wants is no longer applicable to her, or kill him. Killing is suspicious for at least the first five to ten years of marriage. Conclusion? Dumb mistake. _Oh my God. I swear if I have to sit through another one of these boring..._ The mumbling teen continued in his rant of self-loathing, until a slender hand slowly came to rest on his blazer-clad shoulder.

"How about a dance?," asked a girl with blond hair rippling down her back in a cascade of golden locks. She wore a long, hot pink gown that met the floor with a train following her, mimicking her movements while she twirled about Daisuke in a dance of her own. Drenched in perfume that screamed money and jewelry fit to drop her if she leaned the wrong way, the girl swirled, accomplishing nothing, but dazed looks from dizzy onlookers. The boy frowned, slightly pushing her to the side and out of his way. He placed his small hand on the table, rising to leave with a short glance at the objects of his company.

"I don't dance, Freedert," Daisuke hissed, hastily snatching up his glass while evading her incessant attempts to grab him. He twisted away from the begging blond slowly inching further away to safety. Freedert pouted, knowing all too well that after the party was over, there would be no way to escape her. Now that she was his step-mother.

_ Really? Really, Daisuke? She could be your sister! Here I am, with a mom who turned out to have been a crackhead. Yes, a crackhead and not only was she addicted, but she was addicted to the point where she would have sold me for a hit. She was literally taking bets as I was incubating, which makes me wonder how and why my father was even with her...a crackwhore, I mean. I have never met her, besides the moment that I bursted from her vagina, only to be whisked away by childcare services to live with my father from infancy. Now, my father is on his third marriage and I stupidly, up until Freedert casually mentioned otherwise, had believed the woman from the first marriage to have been my mother. How very wrong I was!_ Thought Daisuke, running his small hands through the roots of his hair, that hair being the color of the deepest sala flower. The small teen wandered his way through corridors of the hotel where the reception was held. Time to himself was all he wanted, all he ever needed. He never had any friends to confide in, just his maid, Towa. Towa would always listen, but she would never tell him anything to support nor oppose his cause. Whatever she told him, however, was always the truth and that is what he liked most about her. She would always remind him that he was normal, but at the same time, that he was different and could do everything normal kids do, but not with normal kids. The only friends he ever had or could call friends were the ones his father paid to come over. Daisuke never went to school, always having a tutor for this, or a tutor for that. His father was a prosperous archaeologist and thus, was always gone leaving the boy to his own devices. In a large house with no one, but your servants who always seemed too busy to deal with you, solitude would seem the most suitable alternative.

Daisuke continued to wander the halls for what seemed like forever, going in circles a couple of times along the way. People watching was an unbreakable hobby Daisuke wished he hadn't obtained, however, that's the price you pay for seventeen years of personal contact with only a few select people. A few individuals even stopped Daisuke along his meanderings to ask for directions throughout the hotel. From the look of his attire, they might have supposed him to have been an employee, never-the-less, he knew where to go, having been around enough times. He passed back through the threshold to the reception area, which was filled with guests he had never even seen before, but who knew exactly who he was and everything there was to know about him. It never failed to amaze him how people could know so much, yet know so very little at the exact same time.

"So Daisuke, I hear you're quite the painter these days, huh?," a lanky gentleman inquired in a tone that was torn between 'I-don't-want-to-be-rude' and 'I-honestly-couldn't-give-a-shape-shifting-shit-about-this-kid,' all the while maintaining a flawlessly fake smile. "I suppose it's to woo the ladies, is it not?" Daisuke returned the appearance of a happy disposition, raising his newly filled glass like a cheerful ol' chap.

"I do, indeed. All in great fun, sir," he replied gleefully, bringing his glass to his lips, before turning away to end the conversation. The boy really didn't paint all that much. It always seemed as if he had a beautiful work thought up, but once that work made its way onto the canvas, well...the work's always better off staying in his head. "Excuse me. Pardon me," Daisuke called as he surreptitiously made his way through the crowd of people by the spread of foreign delicacies. He stopped on his quest for a secluded area as he heard his name in the near distance. He followed the voice to a far table where people were sparsely conversing.

"Honey, I like totally think Daisuke would love boarding school! It would be a tremendous change for him," Freedert whined annoyingly into Kosuke's ear, leaning seductively towards him in a manner not suitable at a dinner table in any class of society. _Yeah. Tremendous is an understatement. Might as well turn my body inside-out while you're thinking of change._ Daisuke thought to himself, then began listening intently once again. He was now crouched low underneath the table next to the one his father was sitting at. His tiny body easily concealed under the flowy tablecloths.

"Boarding school? Where did that idea come from?," Kosuke coughed out like this idea was clearly unheard of. His second wife, Marianne had also suggested boarding school. She couldn't stand the sight of the 'ghost-like' apparition of a son that Daisuke had been for her. "I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean he likes being by himself." Freedert pouted in a way that can only be described by getting a puppy and dunking it in a freezing bucket of water. *whimper...whimper*

"You said, yourself that you wished he had more company, so I just thought that he might try going to school with other kids. Besides, it's not healthy to stay inside all the time and I want to have you all to myself for a while." Daisuke rolled his eyes and made a 'tsk' noise, audible enough for some of the guests to look around. _You just thought you'd get me out of the house so you could do whatever you want? Yeah, well it's not going to happen, missy._

"Well, since you put it that way, I guess we can try it out. It's for Daisuke's sake. I'll call up some guys to pull some strings, but if he has any problems, he's coming home," Kosuke agreed warily as he drained his glass of its contents. Freedert squealed and immediately dashed off in search of her new baby. Daisuke could hear Kosuke sigh loudly after her retreat. "Daisuke, you can stop hiding." The small boy eeped, scooting out from under the table slowly. He stood up and took a seat next to his father, looking confused to no end.

"You knew I was hiding?" A look of pure embarrassment spread over the boy's features, as he straightened his tie, trying to find some sort of occupation for his hands. At this point, him being placed at the 'table for tots' didn't seem all that farfetched of an idea.

"Isn't it obvious, Daisuke? I clearly called you out," Kosuke replied, taking a rather large swig from the bottle of champagne before him. Daisuke nodded slightly, watching his old man drink away his 'troubles.'

"Well...you said yes? I don't understand. Last time you flat-out rejected even the tiniest hint towards something like boarding school." Kosuke gazed upon his son with a tired expression, conveying the ultimate form of 'keep-it-short-and-sweet-'cause-I-have-a-headache.' Daisuke's ruby eyes got wide with discontent.

"You know, maybe it'll be good for you. You can make some friends; add some hip and cool memories to your teen life." At this, the man poised himself into what he thought a 'hip or cool' kid might look like, earning a look of disdain from his fidgeting son. After realizing that this achieved nothing, but sideways glances from onlookers, he shrugged his shoulders and took another sip from his half-empty bottle. "Come on, just try it," Daisuke's father sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. "It'll be fine. If you don't like it, I'll send you right back home, I promise." _Promises, eh? Isn't this your third marriage? Or were you married to my real mom as well? I never know these days._ Daisuke nodded and stalked off, getting intercepted by Freedert along the way.

"Dance with me!," she chimed, once again spinning around idiotically.

_ We've got an awesome house, more than two cars, a very well-paying job, approximately one kid and a twenty-year-old who might as well be a kid, a couple who seems happy with looks that are most likely deceiving, and a pint-sized purse puppy with irritable bowel syndrome. Normal? Close, but no cigar._

* * *

"Can we? Can we? Can we?," Freedert pleaded, oh-so-loudly throughout the mall, jumping up and down as she did. She pulled a tiny blushing red-head towards a clothing store, which he immediately resisted. It had been three weeks since her proposal of boarding school and every day since the agreement, she had been begging Daisuke to let her shop for him. "Please, please, please, please, please! Daisuke, I'll be your very best friend!" Daisuke scoffed at this last remark, wondering how the hell she expected to be anyone's best friend when she's scrumping their dad every night. Involuntary chills filled Daisuke's body as that last thought passed through his head.

"Freedert, I've told you already. I don't need you as a best friend. You won't even be around and I don't need to go shopping. We'll have a uniformed dress code. My God, you are so dense." Daisuke continued walking throughout the mall getting all of the necessities he would need for his dorm. He had already picked out a comforter which was black, accented with gray stripes in varying sizes and red sheets to go with the red pillow cases. All of this stuff was to be 'top-of-the-line' according to Freedert, who needed everything top quality. Daisuke could care less as long as he had something to sleep under. He was rich, there's no doubt about it, but he took great pride in the little things, not the price tags that come with them. The other items matched his bed set, however they didn't resemble a catalogue spread, but rather a conglomerate of amazingness waiting to be morphed into a masterfully decorated room.

"Awww! I wish I could come with you to help you decorate!," Freedert wailed, clinging even more tightly to the teen, harder than what's normally acceptable in step-mother/step-son embraces. As much as Daisuke would hate to admit it, Freedert was a good decorator, from what he'd seen around the house. "And I'm not dense! I happen to weigh 122 pounds, thank you very much, Mr. I'm-so-great-smarty-pants."

"When you're done acting like a complete idiot, let me know so I can at least attempt to tolerate you once again." Daisuke rolled his eyes and began speed-walking down the fastest route to freedom. Freedert easily caught up, because if anyone could run in six-inch heels without breaking their neck, it would be her. "You know you are coming with me, right? You're getting a hotel to help me get settled and then you leave me forever so I can rot and wither away, never letting you know how much I truly liked being your son."

"Y-you really like me? Really, really?" Freedert lit up, illuminating her golden locks with the glow of self-regard. She held her hands up to her face and began bouncing again with a grin that looked as if it were carved from ear to ear.

"No, not really. That was funny, though. Thank you for that," Daisuke giggled softly, shaking his head, allowing his unruly rubicund tresses to sway around his face in a contrast that was almost angelic. Freedert smiled and couldn't bring herself to be angry at the kid she thought she was going to hate.

* * *

"AN ALL GUY'S BOARDING SCHOOL? WHAT THE HELL?," Daisuke growled as he approached the gates of Akune High, Academy for Boys. The school was enormous, fully decked-out with court yards and gardens laden with grandeur. His father scratched his head, unaware that this was an all boys' school. "Don't tell me you didn't do your research..."

"Daisuke, it sounded legit and my partner is a close personal friend of the headmaster. I thought he said something about girls." Daisuke rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time that day after first getting lost in the airport, then once again on the way here, and only to find out that there is no poontang strutting the campus.

"Yeah, Dad. Something about girls, or lack thereof," Daisuke scoffed, pacing about in a fit of annoyance.

"What's wrong with all guys? You might find someone hot! Woo-hoo!," squeaked Freedert, fist pumping. Both Daisuke and his father rolled their eyes at her. "You guys are no fun. Hey boys!," she called out to some guys walking by. They both glanced at her, then continued on their course. "They don't know a good thing when they see one! Humph!" Kosuke pulled out his brochure which he got his reference from and began to look over it.

"Ah! See! The Akune High has a sister school attached to it. It says here that Amame High, Academy for Girls is right there and the dorm rooms are co-ed. Meal times, after-school activities, and clubs are co-ed as well." Kosuke pointed to the far end of the huge building, indicating that it was Amame High. "So that means we go this way." The three of them began to walk towards the building; Daisuke and Freedert following the map holder.

"Hey, how about we take a tour first?," Freedert sang, getting all excited for nothing. Kosuke nodded, but continued to look at his map as Daisuke was yanked off in a random direction. "Wow! This place is so nice!" The high ceilings and statues placed along the halls made the school seem more like a nice museum, than a learning institution. "Listen! You can hear me echo...echo...echo..." Daisuke turned around, acting like he wasn't with her while people chuckled as they walked past. Anything that could possibly be called embarrassingly stupid had been done along this make-shift tour. From smushing her face up to floor-length windows to asking how much the electricity bill was, Freedert had done it. She even bought Akune and Amame hats for the two of them to wear. "Oh m'goodness! Daisuke, let's go get you signed up!," she said after having had her fill of exciting tourism. They dashed over to a front desk, one of the many they'd seen along their travels, and commenced in asking about the sign-up.

"You'll need to go thattaway," rasped a short, older woman with library glasses. She looked angry, as if she were unhappy with her job. Then again, who would be happy with Freedert - the tour guide two inches from their face? The woman pointed Daisuke in the direction he should go and off he went with Freedert at his heels.

"I think this is it. Everyone else is in line," Daisuke stated monotonously, finding a spot behind a girl with short brown hair. "Freedert, stop that!" Freedert had been twisting in her spot with her finger in her mouth, batting her lashes at some guys who were sitting on a bench not too far from where they were. The guys appeared really interested in what she was doing, but Daisuke popped her anyway. "Stop it." She put on an expression that read 'what-did-I-do?' Daisuke glared at her and she stopped pouting, but still glanced over in the guys' directions. The girl in front of Daisuke turned around to see who he was yelling at and giggled when he noticed her staring. "She does that a lot. You should have seen her outside."

"Oh, yeah? Is she going to be your roommate?," The girl asked, smiling with a hopeful expression. Daisuke blinked for a moment, then registered her question.

"R-roommate? Oh, no! That's my step-mom. I know, I know. She's twenty and she can't help herself," Daisuke sputtered, nearly perishing at the thought of staying in the same room with Freedert. The girl's smile got wider and she began to beam slightly.

"Well, you wanna be my roommate? My sister was supposed to be mine, but she ended up rooming with some other girl, and they don't give out single rooms unless you pay extra and well, well I just don't want to get stuck with someone weird, 'cause it's already costly enough to go here...and-" Daisuke cut her off with a small giggle.

"The dorms are co-ed right?"

"Yep. Everyone who enrolls gets a dorm. If you pay extra, you get a single. I want one, but it's expensive," the girl said, pouting.

"Oh, okay. I'll room with you then. It's no problem with me," Daisuke concluded, figuring that co-ed must mean guys and girls could share rooms if they wanted to. The girl smiled and gave him a quick hug, pulling him closer to her in the line. Freedert saw the hug and instantly began gushing.

"Oh, Dai-chan! That's so cute!" Freedert hugged Daisuke, yanking him back to his previous spot. His new roommate giggled, putting her hand to her mouth, and the guys on the bench nearly gave up all hope on Freedert. The lady at the desk for dorm applications called Daisuke's partner up to the desk and she walked over, dragging Daisuke along with her.

"Hi, I'm Riku Harada, nice to meet you ma'am," Riku calmly announced bowing her head slightly.

"That's all well and good, but who's your roommate honey? We've got a lot of people to bed, so there's no need for formalities," the shrewd woman said, quickly snapping at the girl.

"This is uh...um," Riku began, nudging Daisuke's arm. Daisuke had glued his focus on a tall, purple-haired guy. He looked a little older than Daisuke, with a calm and cool demeanor, almost with an air of self-righteousness like everyone else was shit on the bottom of his shoe. Daisuke envied it never-the-less and this guy never ceased to grab his attention. The older male caught wind of Daisuke's staring ways as he looked through the brochures at the desk, but when he began to stare at Daisuke as well, the red-head's eyes snapped up and away. He caught a glimpse of a smirk before he tore away his gaze.

"D-dai...suke," Daisuke stammered, earning laughter from both the lady at the desk and Riku. The guy walked away from the desk, but even as he did, he seemed to be chuckling.

"That's an odd last name," the lady commented, typing away at her computer. "Well, here are your keys. Have a great year. Next!" She handed them the keys and the two of them continued down the line where everyone else was going.

"You've got a pretty name, Dai," Riku complimented, flashing a smile at him when they approached the uniform line. Freedert had long since abandoned them and was sitting on the bench with the guys from earlier.

"Oh. Um, thanks." Daisuke wasn't sure about what she meant by pretty. No one had ever called his name pretty before, but then again, who had he ever really talked to?

"The red-head is kinda cute, huh?," someone asked from a distance. Daisuke looked around slowly, trying not to seem obvious. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guy from the desk talking to two guys on a bench, not too far from where he was in line. One was what you might call a pretty boy. He seemed completely manicured, like if he'd broken a nail, you wouldn't be surprised if he fell out screaming bloody murder. Even his blond ponytail seemed to have a confidence of its own, strangely enough. The other male had blue hair and was slightly smaller than the afore-mentioned beauty, but on a completely different level, aesthetically speaking. In a word, the man was frigid. It was as if there were an aura of doom lingering about him, just ready to end anyone who even thought of coming too close. How two people like this could even stomach sitting next to one another was mind-boggling, to say the very least. Still trying not to reveal his eavesdropping ways, Daisuke glanced around in a different direction, before staring out of the corner of his eye once again. The blond looked over at him, or at least that's what he thought, then turned back to his creepy friend.

"Yeah, she's okay. Kind of tomboyish though," the blond replied, flipping his hair and smirking at the bluenette, not unlike the violet-haired boy had, just a few minutes before. "Then, again. Those types always seem to capture your full attention, don't they?" The purple-haired guy laughed at this, nudging the creepy guy's arm in jest.

"Pray tell, what is the meaning of that last remark, Krad?," the bluenette asked tiredly, as apparently these types of snide questions are asked of him on a regular basis. Folding his arms, he shifted his eyes from the violet one, to the man he'd just referred to as Krad.

"Well, isn't it obvious, Satoshi? You're totally a closeted homo. The only women you're ever interested in look like men."

"I absolutely refuse to agree with you," Satoshi stated, clearly taken aback. There was little or no change in his expression, but from the widening of his eyes, measured within the minutest margin, one can assume that he was somewhat shocked.

"Can I get a co-sign, Darkie-poo?," Krad asked laughingly, as if to say 'Whether-you-agree-or-not,-it's-a-cold,-hard-fact.' 'Darkie-poo' nodded his head, co-signing on the topic at hand, all the while reading over a pamphlet he'd gotten from the brochure rack. "You see? Now it's official. You've been overruled by two-thirds majority. You're gay, so admit it."

"You can't have a majority rule over a person's sexuality, Krad. I mean it's not like you're voting for him to be gay...," Darkie-poo sighed, folding his pamphlet. "...Or is that what you want? For him to be gay, that is."

"Hahaha," Krad laughed nervously, brushing off the question. "Oh, please. Come now. All I meant was, through popular vote, it's clear that everyone here thinks Satoshi has homo-tendencies, therefore we can safely assume that he is, in fact a homosexual. I, on the other hand am as straight as straight gets!"

"Sure, you are," Darkie-poo said sarcastically, standing up to stretch, before walking off towards a random hallway.

"Really? I'll have you know that I-. Hey, wait! Where are you-," Krad asked in annoyance, watching the target of his question continue to leave. "I hate it when he just up and walks off right in the middle of a conversation. Just rude, wouldn't you say?," he ranted, not even waiting for a response before continuing. "You know, what were we even talking about before?"

"I asked if you thought that red-."

"Oh, right! The red-head...hm..._She's_ definitely cute. So if you aren't gay like you say, then you have my blessing to try to court her," Krad said officially, folding his arms as he did.

"I wasn't aware that I needed you're permission, but I suppose that's good to know," said the bluenette with a slight frown on his features. The red-head shrugged his shoulders, turning back to face the direction of traffic. '_Oh. Must not have been talking about me then,'_ Daisuke whispered under his breath, even as he glanced around seeing no other red-heads in the vicinity.

"Did you say something?" Riku glanced at Daisuke suspiciously and he shook his head.

"N-no, I didn't say anything," Daisuke assured her, blushing a little at his embarrassment. When it was his turn to approach the desk, the woman stationed there asked for his size, which he gave her. For a moment she stared at him awkwardly, converting the male size he gave her into a female one. After receiving their uniforms, Daisuke and Riku smiled, moving aside for the others to pass by. "O-oh my God," Daisuke squeaked as he held up the uniform he'd just been handed. It was a black miniskirt with white pleats, and a white button-up with a maroon and black crest on it. There was also a selection of vests and jackets that went with the uniform, but those weren't exactly mandatory in order to abide by the school's dress-code. "Um, there must be a mistake. This is a skirt." Daisuke's voice was quivering minutely.

"Well, yeah. All the girls wear skirts," Riku laughed, as if all was right with the world, tugging on the front of his Amame High hat, which was supposed to have been Freedert's.

"But...but..." Riku pulled his arm and began to drag him out of the atrium. "W-wait! Where are we going?"

"To our room, so we can try these on, duh."

"Riku! I gotta do something first! I'll just meet you there! Here take these for me," he asked, dropping his uniforms in her arms. Riku shrugged, handed him a key, and continued on her journey to their dorm. "Freedert! Let's go!," Daisuke commanded, stomping over to his step-mom. The guys she was sitting with looked him over and invited him to relax with them as well. Daisuke made a slight gagging noise and pulled Freedert off of the bench.

"Dai! Dai, we were having fun!," Freedert whined, holding one of the bench-hugger's hands.

"Does your husband know that, MOM?" That was a BINGO. The bench-hugger dropped Freedert's hand like a steaming pile of horse manure. "You know we went to the wrong place?"

"W-we did? Oh, how did that happen?" A small frustrated sigh escaped the boy as he fought the urge to answer that question. _Round 1...2...3! Ding! Ding! Ding! Loser_.

"Your dumb ass decided you wanted to go on a flipping tour of this gigantic school! Or should I say two schools? It's your fault we're even here to begin with, goddamn it!," Daisuke exploded, receiving looks and laughter. Most of the laughing was due to his tiny size compared to Freedert's, which didn't help because she also had heels on. "And on top of that, now I'm a cross-dressing girl in guy's clothes! Wait! Damn it, I said that wrong... I can't even think straight! Dag friggen' nabbit!" Freedert snickered, then broke out in uproarous laughter, causing many people to join her. The blue-haired teen was even smiling along with his blond friend, as tiny as that smile may have been. A blush flourished on Daisuke's face right up to his roots, as he put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot in frustration. "Fuck you. Let's go." Freedert stared at him for a moment, unmoving. "NOW!," the heated voice came out like a slap in the face, snapping her back to reality and as much as it irked her to be handled in such a manner, she followed obediently.

The two of them returned to Akune High in silence. No matter how hard Freedert pleaded, Daisuke refused to speak to someone with such little common sense. Daisuke couldn't believe how utterly ridiculous Freedert was, or even how he, himself was stupid enough to follow such a person. There was a cutting air about the boy. Arms folded tightly across his chest, jaws clenched, forcing his lips into a thin line, he warded off anyone who came too close with a permanent twinkle of death in his eye. People steered out of the way as he passed by looking pissed beyond all belief. Not only had he been mistaken for a girl and humiliated to the point of no return, what with his overly promiscuous step-mother, but the more he thought about it, the more it ticked him off. He felt more like Freedert's parental unit than a step-son. As Kosuke approached the two of them, he couldn't help, but to notice the icy atmosphere.

"Hey, did something happen? One of you looks like you're about to cry and the other like you're out for blood. What's up?," he asked, attempting to break the ice, so to speak.

"Dai-chan started it!," Freedert whined, pointing a long finger at the glaring boy.

"Fucked if I did. Dad, you married a total idiot," Daisuke sighed, scratching his head minutely. "She makes me feel like my IQ is dropping."

"Hey, you little...," Freedert began, trying to swing at the red-head who just walked away as she was restrained by Kosuke.

"We'll have none of that. No fighting and Dai, could you at least be nice? No need for name calling and such. She is your step-mother now, after all. Man-up, and show some respect. That means no swearing." At this, Freedert stuck her tongue out at him, before hiding behind her new husband.

"You see? How do you expect me to be serious, when she's acting like an infant?," Daisuke asked, giving Freedert the bird.

"Hey! You're both acting like infants! Now cool it, before I put you both in time-out. You wanna act like kids; I'll treat you like it." Kosuke looked back and forth between the two bickering 'kids' and folded his arms as if to say 'test-me-if-you-want-to.' Daisuke and Freedert rolled their eyes, before conceding in defeat. "Now apologize."

"Sorry," they said in unison, watching as Kosuke nodded and turned to lead them in the direction of the dormitories.

"Fuck you," Daisuke whispered angrily, flicking Freedert in the neck and laughing as he caught up to his dad soon after. Freedert fumed, rubbing the stinging spot on her neck, but followed never-the-less.

"Dai, I've already signed you up and got your room. Should be around here somewhere. A, uh...room 2719," Kosuke announced, handing Daisuke his male uniforms. "Those should be your size. If not, you can exchange them back at the front desk."

"No, these are fine," Daisuke answered back, after first checking the labels on the clothes he was handed. "Wait, you said room 2719? How many rooms does this place have?"

"According to the brochures, this place can house up to five thousand people, which includes faculty and students. Of course, some of the rooms are shared, and there's the possibility of getting a room to yourself. That aside, I figured since you came here to make friends, it'd be easier on you if you had someone to room with, no?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me. I don't mind sharing. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it," Daisuke said, thinking back on how friendly Riku was. _Oh, I forgot about Riku. She still thinks I'm a girl, huh? Should be okay if I tell her the truth._ Daisuke pulled the key she'd given him out of his pocket to see that she would be in room 'd be sure to explain the little mishap to her, and she'd get that single room she wanted. He smiled thinking that perhaps it was a good idea to get out of the house and try something new. Wondering about what he and his friends-to-be might do in the future, Daisuke found himself lost in thought and almost ran right into his dad as the man stopped at his door.

"Looks like this is it," Kosuke said softly, glancing back at the room number on his key, matching it to the door. "Yep, here we are."

"Oh m'goodness! Are you excited?! I'm so excited for you! And, I get to decorate!," Freedert sang, bouncing around Daisuke and his father, completely forgetting about being mad at the boy.

"I guess I am a bit excited. Or maybe I'm just nervous," Daisuke answered, getting that butterflies in your gut feeling, not unlike the moment right after your teacher calls your name to give a presentation.

"Nonsense. What have ya got to be nervous about? I'm sure your roommate will love you!"

"Thanks Freedert, but I'm more worried about whether or not I'll like my roommate," he laughed nervously feeling his palms get sweaty just thinking about some hideous creeper opening the door.

"Only one way to find out," Kosuke laughed as well, unlocking the door and pushing it open for Daisuke and Freedert to see.

"Wow, this place is beautiful!," gasped Freedert, as she entered the room. At first glance, you might have thought you'd gone back in time. The room was very large, styled in the classical Victorian grandeur with high vaulted ceilings and ornate crown moldings upon the eggnog colored walls. Daisuke was lucky enough to have gotten a room located at the corner of the building, so there were four floor-to-ceiling windows, garnished with flowy, golden curtains, which allowed a massive amount of light into the room. Being that the two adjacent walls had two windows a piece, where the windows were spread apart, there lay a bed between them; each bed made special with the intricate carvings on their headboards and footboards, adding to the already overly elegant space.

"Yeah," Daisuke agreed, walking over to the area across from the illuminated beds. There was a seating area which had Victorian styled furniture placed over a most likely super expensive rug, including a couch, chase, chair with an ottoman, and a wood-carved coffee table with a golden finish. The light blue and gold furniture held an eye-popping contrast with the dark Calamander flooring, and at that point Daisuke felt that his rooming here would be fairly inappropriate as he'd be so stressed out with trying not to mess anything up that he wouldn't get a chance to actually enjoy his stay. Off to the side of the seating area, there were two drawing desks; each with a laptop on them, along with the other necessary desk accessories. The three of them just marveled at the sight of the room, taking in its otherworldly beauty.

"So, I'm guessing this place is worth what I'm paying for it," Kosuke laughed, pacing about the room. Daisuke chuckled along with him, taking a seat on a couch in the seating area.

"Ah, looks like we get to go shopping for a new comforter set to match this room, because you are so not using that cheap one you got last time," Freedert chimed, jiggling the handle on a walk-in closet. "Oh my God! Daisuke, if you don't like it here, I'll take your spot!"

"Haha, I'll keep that in mind."

"This closet is like a maze! And you guys have got a sweet bathroom, too!" As soon as you enter the closet, there's a door to the left leading to the bathroom, which had both a shower and a tub, and two sinks for the tenants of the room. "Marble...in the bathroom? Are you kidding me? You think I could get back into school, honey?" At this, Kosuke just laughed, taking a tour of the closet as well.

"Hm, looks like your roommate has already been here. He seems to dress normally, at least," Kosuke commented, seeing some clothes already hung up in the closet. "See? Jeans…tees...nothing to worry about here."

"Dad, you can't say someone's 'normal' just because you saw a pair of their jeans. Serial killers wear jeans," Daisuke snorted, walking over to lay on one of the unmade beds. His body seemed to sink right into it as it molded to his figure, making him relax almost completely. He sighed, rolling over to check the time on the clock, which read about 2 P.M. His excitement or rather, his nervousness was most definitely not making the day go by any faster.

"You'll just have to wait and see, then," Freedert giggled. "Until then, we'll be right back! I've got to get stuff for your room!"

"Freedert, you really don't have to do that. I can ju-"

"I'm decorating for you and that's final," she said, cutting him off. "You'll thank me later." With that, Freedert and Kosuke left, leaving nothing but the small click of the door behind them.

* * *

Daisuke awoke to the incessant clicking of keys on a keyboard across the room from him. Giving his eyes time to adjust to his surroundings, he glanced over at the clock to find that he'd fallen asleep and passed about six hours away as it was a little past eight o'clock at night. Following the sound which was the cause of his broken sleep cycle, Daisuke's gaze fell upon a lanky boy typing furiously on one of the laptops near the seating area. After a few moments, the aforementioned typist's head snapped up and turned in Daisuke's direction, seeming all the more intense with the glow of the computer screen illuminating his features.

"So you're my roommate, huh?," asked the guy, pushing up his glasses as he did.

"Uh, yeah," Daisuke began nervously, propping himself up into a sitting position. "I...I didn't disturb you, did I? I mean, I'm sorry, if I did. You seemed really into whatever it was that you were working on."

"No, you didn't disturb me," the boy replied, seeming somewhat irritated as he did. "It was just a minor tiff. Something to do with my guild leader and him deciding to change the raid times, although I specifically told him I couldn't make raids at 6:30. Apparently, my heals aren't good enough to warrant some consideration when setting up guild events! I must just be some second rate healer who can be replaced on a whim! Well, joke's on them, because I dare anyone to find someone who can pull 35k H.P.S on almost every boss like I can! I double-dog-dare ya!" As the guy said this, he grew all the more irritated, going so far as to stand up and pace about the room.

"Your guild leader...? H.P.S? I'm sorry, but I don't follow," Daisuke said quietly, flooded with confusion.

"Guild leader, as in a leader of a guild. My guild's name is 'Avengers of the Dark Goliath,' but we just say A.D.G. for short and H.P.S is the acronym for heals per second. I do top heals in all my raids. It's a well-known fact."

"I'm sorry. What?," Daisuke inquired, frowning at his own lack of understanding.

"Ugh, you don't game much, do you? Online computer games? It's much too complicated for me to explain to you right now. Honestly, I have no clue if you and I will even be able to survive rooming together." At this, Daisuke rolled his eyes, making the connection between this guy and the 'no-lifing computer geeks' he'd seen described in movies, although he'd never thought they were really as intense as movies made them out to be. This one at least, lived up to the exaggeration. "By the way, you're on my bed."

"Your bed? But..." He stopped mid-sentence, because as he talked, the computer geek waved his hand nonchalantly, gesturing at what were apparently his possessions on the nightstand next to the bed Daisuke was currently on. "Oh, sorry about that, then."

"As you should be," the nerd stated matter of factly, striding across the room towards his bed. "I'll have to make sure this bed is completely sanitized, before bringing in my bedding." Daisuke's eyes began to twitch as he tried to convince himself that agreeing to come to boarding school was not the worst decision he'd ever made, although now that he thought of it, coming to this school was really the only big decision he'd ever had to make. "Shoo! Off to your own bed, now. Your dad and sister already made up your bed and stuff. They got some other things in that bag over there," he said, pointing lazily at a red bag in the corner of the room.

"She's not my sister, just so you know." At this, Daisuke's roommate just shrugged his shoulders as if to say 'Who cares?' and went about his business before nearly leaping out of his skin. Before Daisuke had even realized what had happened, the violet-haired boy from earlier was pacing about the room having popped out of nowhere.

"Don't touch that!," the aforementioned hardcore online gamer called out, nearly panicking to death as he shooed the new intruder away from the computer the violet-haired teen was now pushing buttons on. The guy shrugged his shoulders and casually sauntered across the room, focusing his interests on the comic book laden bookcases.

"Darkie-poo?" Daisuke hadn't even known he'd whispered anything, but the unexpected teen turned on him immediately with a suspicious look in his eye.

"What did you just call me?," Darkie-poo asked, seeming somewhat agitated, but at the same time masking a tiny hint of laughter.

"M-me? No-nothing. I didn't say anything," Daisuke managed to choke out innocently, feeling embarrassed beyond belief. Darkie-poo raised an eyebrow at the red-head, because for some reason unknown to him, the boy looked oddly familiar. He frowned, squinting his eyes at the red-head in question, but dropped the uncertainty none-the-less and continued to pace around the room.

"Hey! You can't just come barging in other people's rooms out of nowhere, you know!," yelled the kid with the glasses, holding his chest as if he was coming down with a heart attack, after having made sure his computer was unharmed.

"The door was open."

"Even so! Whether the door is open or closed, when going into someone else's room, it's customary to knock first!," replied the boy who, at least in Daisuke's opinion was way too angry for something so simple. Perhaps he was still upset over his guild scuffle. Completely ignoring the ranting boy behind him, Darkie-poo turned back to Daisuke with a look of concern.

"Is this your bed?," the violet one asked seriously, pointing towards the bed that Freedert and Kosuke had made up for him. Daisuke nodded in response, causing a yet another small frown to form on Darkie-poo's lips. "That won't do. That, over there, will be your bed."

"Hey, now! Wait a second! That's my bed!," said the 'still-seething-over-neglecting-to-knock-guy's-rude-entry' boy. "Who are you to come in here dictating stuff?!"

"I'm Dark. Dark Mousy," the boy said, never turning away from the slightly confused red-head, who just sat on the edge of his ex-bed.

"I don't care what your name is! I just wanna know why the hell you're in my room trying to give my bed away!" At this, Dark turned his attentions to the ranting roomie.

"Here, take these and get out," Dark said calmly, handing the boy a set of keys to one of the rooms of many on the seemingly endless hallway. "You can pick up your stuff later."

"Wh-what? What do you mean 'Get out?!'"

"You're trading rooms with me. The bed in my room faces a window which opens to the East. I can't sleep peacefully if I have to wake up to the sun in my eyes, now can I?," Dark asked, smirking inwardly to himself. He didn't even wait for an answer before continuing. "In any case, this room will do just fine."

"You can't just take someone's room! You have to get a room transfer and fill out a bunch of forms! Besides, I like it in here and my roommate, even though he knows nothing of games, is pretty normal! I have no intentions of leaving!," the boy bellowed, pushing up his glasses and glaring in a fit of disgust.

"If it's that big of an issue, I can just switch rooms with you. I don't mind," Daisuke chimed in quietly, earning looks from both Dark and the angsty nerd.

"Then it's solved. He will take your room, and I can stay here, since I'm already unpacked and everything."

"No, I want him," Dark stated bluntly, glaring at the gamer as he pondered his thoughts. "Did you honestly think I'd want to spend a year holed up with a freak like you? Some guy who gets his panties in a bunch every time someone forgets to knock and gets off to pixelated women on computer games? If that's what you thought, it's just another reason it's you that needs to leave." Dark laughed aloud to himself, while eyeing the computer Daisuke's roommate was playing on earlier.

"He's not a freak. Actually, he seems pretty nice from what I've seen so far," Daisuke commented, feeling bad for his new roomie. In all honesty, the guy looked petrified, even though Dark was no longer glaring at him. Daisuke hadn't seen the glare for himself, so he couldn't understand why his roommate wasn't even trying to stick up for himself. It made his roommate appear all the more pitiful.

"And you've known him for what? All of ten minutes?," Dark asked laughingly, smirking at Daisuke as he took a seat on an ottoman. Daisuke winced at the sound of Dark's deep, throaty laughter. The guy was apparently really enjoying himself.

"It doesn't matter. He really doesn't wanna leave, so I'll just go instead. Then everyone will get what they want. I haven't unpacked yet either, so moving will be easy," Daisuke suggested again, just ready to get out of this awkward situation.

"You're staying where you are," Dark said sternly, before returning his sights on the computer guy. "Why are you still here?"

"I-I...um. Well, I was...uh," the boy stammered out nervously, melting under Dark's intense stare.

"You were just leaving." At that, Daisuke's roommate conceded defeat and nodded, before gathering up some of his action figures which were placed on his nightstand. "Don't worry. My room is a single, so you'll have plenty of space for those...things." Daisuke's jaw dropped, not being able to believe someone could really stare someone out of their own room or even that someone would want to give up a single room just because they didn't like the lighting.

"You're joking, right?," Daisuke asked frantically, running to the door to see computer boy hastily walking to what would be his new room.

"I don't joke about the things I want." It may have just been Daisuke, but he could have sworn the room seemed to get just a tad bit colder, because as soon as Dark had spoken, a chill crawled its way right up his spine. The intensely serious look on the older boy's face didn't do much in the way of settling Daisuke's nerves either.

"B-but he looks really upset. I, well I just think it was really unnecessary and-"

"He will get over it. Relax," Dark sighed, rolling his eyes before getting up and walking over to examine Daisuke's freshly made ex-bed.

"Why didn't you just move your bed if you didn't wanna wake up facing the sun? I mean, it just would've made a lot more sense," Daisuke thought aloud, pressing his fingers to his lips as he did. He wondered if this guy was the type to openly answer questions or if he was a solitary type who would much rather his roommates mind their own business.

"Way too complicated," Dark answered, stretching his long arms towards the ceiling. Judging from his reaction, Dark seemed, at least to Daisuke, a rather laid back kind of guy and thus, he proceeded to investigate.

"Let me get this straight," Daisuke began, completely shocked by what he'd just heard. "You mean to tell me, that you kicked a guy out of his own dorm, all because you were too lazy to push a bed to the other side of the room?"

"That's right."

"Unbelievable! You know, you really are-...Hey! Wait! Where are you goin'?," Daisuke yelled, watching Dark stride out of the room and into the hallway not caring in the least that he was still in the middle of a conversation. "I wasn't done talkin' to you! Dark!" _Wait a second, did I get too comfortable? Or maybe, does he just come into rooms whenever and leave just like he came - without thinking of anyone but himself? In any case, that guy really is somethin' else. Just strange._ Sighing, Daisuke sauntered across the room, kicking off his shoes, before dragging the large red bag Freedert had left for him out of the corner his ex-roomie told him about. Upon opening the bag, he found that its contents were all duplicates of the stuff on his 'ex' side of the room, the one that was just recently claimed by Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome. _Hold on. Did I really just think he was tall, dark, and handsome? Tall, yes. Dark, not really, but that's his name, so yes. Although he is a bit mysterious and strange...and handsome? Well..._ Daisuke began to blush, holding the second Victorian-styled, baby blue and cream-colored plush blanket against himself. _Ah, no. This is just awkward. It's this place. It must be making people go crazy, 'cause I know for a fact that I never think this way. Hm, but this blanket is ridiculously soft..._

After realizing Freedert decided to buy two of everything so that the room would be uniform, Daisuke got to work on making his new bed and setting up the decorative items so that they looked exactly like they did on Dark's side of the room. Once he'd completed the tasks at hand, he took to unpacking his clothes and hanging them in the closet, along with organizing his shoes. The closet, with all of its vast cupboards, drawers, and hanging space, still seemed completely barren, even with all of Daisuke's clothes properly put away. Daisuke stared at the empty spaces in the closet, wondering all the while, who in their right mind had enough clothes to fill this thing. He shook his head tiredly, before grabbing one of the towels Freedert had bought for the room and walking into the bathroom for a shower.

The shower was amazing, to say the very least. An octagonal enclosure made of a marble base and five large floor-to-ceiling frosted glass plates, which were at least six inches thick. Inside the shower, where stone walls served as the top portion of the 'octagon,' there were two marble shower benches and a series of twelve water jets that provide a soothing massage as the initial suspended, round showerhead, located in the center of the octagon, creates a waterfall-like experience. Daisuke spent nearly an hour just letting the water run over him, damn near falling asleep in the shower after lathering up with his favorite White Tea and Ginger body wash. After mustering up enough will to refrain from wasting any more water, and then cursing himself for wasting a hell of a lot of water up until that point, he roughly dried off with his towel and threw on a thin white t-shirt and a pair of ultra-cute Super Mario pajama pants, climbing into bed as he flipped through the school's brochure and his class schedules for the upcoming week. It was almost midnight when Dark found his way back to the dorm, walking in and dropping his hoodie over the back of the chase in the seating area. Daisuke followed him around the room with his eyes, hoping beyond hope for an apology of some sort, having been really offended when the violet one walked off in the middle of their previous conversation.

"What?," Dark asked tiredly, as he plopped down onto the bed he'd just recently stolen. "If you have something to say, say it." He could just feel those bulbous fiery eyes staring holes into his person.

"Well, I have nothing to say. At least not to you. Rather, I think there's something you should say to me," Daisuke huffed, folding his arms about his chest. Dark turned his head, staring intently at the boy whom, he'd just realized wasn't just staring, but all out pouting in his direction.

"Pouting doesn't suit you." Dark's face was completely serious and Daisuke all, but fainted from the blood rushing into his reddening cheeks. What's worse, Dark's saying this statement only made the boy pout all the more, making him blush almost scarlet. _Why are you looking at me so intensely? Should I look away? Yes, yes I think I will look away. No! I'm angry at this person. Be direct and firm._

"Ugh, you flat out walked off during the middle of our conversation. I was tryin' to tell you something," Daisuke fumed, mentally cheering himself on for being 'direct and firm.'

"Oh," Dark replied, flipping over onto his stomach and burying his face in a pillow. _So much for trying to invoke an apologetic response._

"'Oh' is all you have to say for yourself? It's incredibly rude to ignore someone when they're talkin' to you, you know," Daisuke scoffed, walking over and standing by the edge of Dark's bed. Dark lifted his head from his pillows to find himself staring right at Super Mario, surprising him a little as he hadn't even heard Daisuke cross the room and the utterly delicious smell wafting off of the boy was borderline mind-numbing. Dark had smelled the fragrance of Daisuke's body wash in the room, because the boy had just been in the shower, but the way it smelled on him was so sinfully sweet, it took just about all of his resolve to keep him from gluing his face to the boy's body. Daisuke stared at Dark for a moment, noticing those violet eyes visibly darken in just those few seconds. He flinched involuntarily in response.

"What did you want me to say?," Dark inquired slowly, scanning the boy in front of him from head to toe. Daisuke couldn't help but to feel slightly self-conscious, what with Dark looking like he was ready for a midnight snack. He decided it was in his best interest to return to his side of the room, and did so with a quickness. _Too intense! Retreat!_

"I-I'm not sure, exactly. I guess some sort of apology was what I had in mind," he answered, hurrying into bed and curling up beneath his blankets in a makeshift self-defense.

"Honestly, I don't remember walking off on you, but if you say I did, I guess it must be so. I won't apologize, but I'll at least listen to what you wanted to tell me."

"Um, a-actually, I don't remember what I was tellin' you about," Daisuke coughed out, blushing feverishly.

"Then why all the drama?" Dark smirked inwardly to himself, stretching comfortably on his bed. "Wait, don't tell me. You just needed a reason to talk to me."

"N-no! If I wanted to talk to you, I would. I don't need a reason," Daisuke sputtered out defensively. "Just forget I ever said anything." He could hear Dark chuckling quietly on his side of the room.

"Fine, but now I have something to tell you."

"Okay, I'm listenin'," Daisuke said eagerly, popping out of his blanket cocoon.

"Rules. Remember these, 'cause I don't like to repeat myself," Dark began, completely serious now and in seeing this seriousness, Daisuke nodded quickly and focused all of his attention on the older boy. "First. Don't ever ask me where I'm going, what I'm doing, or how late I'm staying out. Most likely, I'll never tell you. We just live together. You're not my mother and you're not my wife, so what I do in my spare time has nothing to do with you. Understood?" Dark took the time to wait for Daisuke's 'Okay, go.' before continuing. "Secondly. And this one is simple. You don't touch my shit. I won't touch yours."

"Got'cha," Daisuke agreed, making a mental note. "Anything else?"

"I'm getting to that. Third rule. I'm gonna have some girls in the room sometimes. Don't be 'that' guy."

"Which guy?," Daisuke asked, completely clueless as to what Dark was implying.

"Don't be a cock-blocker. If I bring a girl over, you disappear. Plain and simple."

"But, what if it's the middle of the night and I'm already asleep? Or if I'm working on an important paper? Or if I already have a girl over?" At this, Dark basically snorted, before cracking into some serious laughter. That same throaty laughter that was beginning to sound somewhat nice to the red-head who up until recently had normally enjoyed only his own company. The idea of conversing with someone other than the help at his father's home was proving to be quite thrilling, and Daisuke found himself secretly hoping that he could keep talking to Dark without the guy up and walking off on a whim. Luckily for him, the violet-haired teen had claimed the room for his own, albeit, at someone else's expense, so it would seem that they'd have all the time in the world for chatting and the like.

"Whatever the situation...although I highly doubt you'll be having girls over, you need to vanish. I don't care if I have to wake you up and make you sleep in the closet. You can do papers at the library and, if God forbid you taint yourself with members of the opposite sex, you and your girl will be ousted."

"Well, how come you always get the room? I was here first. And what do you mean; you highly doubt I'll be having any girls over?" Daisuke was admittedly a little peeved by the situation, but it wouldn't hurt to at least attempt to negotiate.

"Because I'll need it more often. It doesn't matter if you were here first, because I'm older, so I take precedence over you, and you won't be having a ton of girls over because of rule number five, which I haven't gotten to, but will get to if you stop interrupting me," Dark said smoothly, watching as Daisuke settled back into the little ball he was making with his comforter.

"Okay..." Daisuke pouted, not expecting Dark to pull the 'I'm-older-than-you-so-deal-with-it' card. "Wait a second, how do you know for a fact that you're older than me?" The red-head folded his arms beneath his comforters, so wanting to make sure he wasn't getting hoodwinked. Dark laughed at the question – a sort of breathless laughter that seemed to command anyone close enough to hear it to laugh as well. Daisuke giggled quietly awaiting Dark's response.

"Well how old are you?," the violet one asked, after having come down from his laughter high.

"Seventeen and a half," Daisuke answered quickly, feeling satisfied with himself.

"Then I'll have you know, I'm one day over seventeen and a half…since we're being technical." In seeing Dark's smirk, it was apparent that even if Daisuke, himself was older than this guy he would never really know. Daisuke frowned, losing this little game of hardball.

"Fine, but if I find out that the day before my birthday isn't yours, you're gonna be in a world of hurt, buddy," Daisuke scoffed jokingly, earning some quiet laughter from his new roomie. After a minute or so, Dark collected himself and continued on with his rules, regaining Daisuke's full attention.

"Okay, fourth rule. Never touch the thermostat. I like the room temperature a certain way and if it's changed even the tiniest bit, I'll know. So just don't touch it. And that's basically it. I think we'll get along just fine," Dark concluded, smiling at Daisuke's wide-eyed expression.

"Wait, what temperature do you keep it on?," Daisuke asked, wanting to commit it to memory so that he wouldn't mess it up by accident.

"Forty-seven degrees," Dark said, as he got up from his bed and walked across the room, setting the thermostat accordingly.

"What? Why do you make it so cold? I'm gonna freeze to death," Daisuke complained, pulling his blanket around himself as if the temperature was going to drop immediately. Dark gazed at the boy momentarily, before putting together his answer.

"I get…hot." Dark's reply was flat, but for some reason the pause at end - right before he said 'hot' had Daisuke hanging on his every word, watching him standing motionlessly by the thermostat. Daisuke swallowed quietly, wondering to himself why his mouth had all of the sudden run dry.

"Oh…," was all the red-head could manage, feeling his heart rate quicken minutely as Dark continued to stare at him. "I-I guess I could just get extra blankets then." Dark held his gaze for a few more moments, then nodded almost to himself, before turning off the lights and walking back to his newly acquired bed.

"Goodnight, then."

"G-goodnight," Daisuke answered back, feeling somewhat sad that the conversation was nearing its close. Then he remembered. "Dark?" He could hear the older boy shuffling beneath his covers across the room, apparently getting comfortable for sleep. He waited for the small hum of acknowledgement, before continuing his question. "What's the fifth rule?"

"What fifth rule?," Dark asked quietly, taking off his shirt and pants and throwing them to the floor from what Daisuke could hear. There was no way to tell for sure; however, because it was completely pitch black in the room.

"You just said there was a fifth rule and that's why I most likely won't be having any girls over," Daisuke reminded him, popping out of his cocoon once more. The violet-haired teen nodded his head through the darkness as if to say 'Oh, yeah. That,' before flipping onto his stomach and fluffing his pillow.

"Right…Rule number five. You belong to me. Now get some sleep, Red." _I what? I must have heard him incorrectly._

"Sorry, could you repeat that last one for me?," the red-head inquired nervously, his hands fidgeting beneath his comforters.

"No, I've already told you I don't like to repeat myself. And see there, now you've made me do it. Go to sleep." Daisuke frowned into his pillow, but accepted the answer non-the-less.

"Okay, just one more question, then."

"If you must," Dark sighed, seeming irritated by all of this chit-chat.

"With so many rooms to choose from, why'd you pick mine?" And Dark smiled into the darkness, closing his eyes as he inhaled the sweet scent of white tea and ginger, and with one last sigh he said:

"Because of your decor."

* * *

_'Because of your decor.' What does that even mean? What? Was he bursting into every room on the hall until he found one with 2000-count sheets? Honestly he'd have been better off just moving his bed to the other side of his assigned room._ Daisuke thought, exuding an irritated aura as he brushed his teeth. He couldn't help, but to feel like he should have done more to stand up for his ex-roomie. "Yeah...I think I'll check on him," he said cheerfully, after spitting the last remnants of Aquafresh toothpaste foam into the sink and rinsing his mouth out with water.

"Check on whom?" Dark nearly scared the smaller boy to death, having been standing in the closet grabbing a jacket, just as Daisuke was about to exit the bathroom. Daisuke released his death grip on the bathroom counter and collected himself, before eliciting a response.

"That guy. I mean, from yesterday. Just to see if he's settling in."

"'That guy.' You honestly care about him that much and you don't even know his name? Wow," Dark said, almost to himself as he made his way to the door of their room.

"As opposed to not knowing his name and forcibly removing him from his room?," Daisuke scoffed, glaring death rays into Dark's back, then looking away quickly as the older boy turned around.

"He left on his own accord. I didn't force him to do anything. He's a big boy who can make his own decisions. Luckily for him, this time he made the right one."

"Please. You totally forced him, acting all scary and stuff. I probably would've done the same thing, had I been in his shoes," Daisuke said, folding his arms across his chest, while following Dark to the door.

"So you find me intimidating?," Dark asked smirkingly, turning on Daisuke as he did. Daisuke began to blush, wondering why every little thing this guy did seemed so intense. _Can't...look...away...You won't win this time._

"Wh-what? No...No, I don't find you- You know what? Where are you going, anyway?," Daisuke answered, not quite knowing what to say to such a straight forward question, especially when Dark was staring directly at him. Dark just raised an eyebrow at the question, thinking to himself that he'd specifically told Daisuke never to ask him that as he slipped on his shoes to leave. Shaking his head, Dark let out a tiny chuckle of laughter, before taking his leave and strolling down the hall. "Wait, what was your room number?" Daisuke got no response, just watching as Dark continued to laugh at his expense, holding up his hand as a sign of farewell. He watched for a few more moments and let out a frustrated sigh. He most certainly did not care about his ex-roomie enough to knock on every door until he found him, so the idea of apologizing on Dark's behalf was out of the question. Instead, Daisuke figured he'd get dressed and confront Riku about their situation. By the time he got dressed, however, the halls that were once empty were now flooded with students. It had almost seemed like he had opened the door to a completely different place, than he had when he watched Dark leave. In any case, he decided to see what all of the commotion was about.

"Dude, let's go! We're gonna be late!," said one student to his friend, as the two of them pushed past a mass of other hurried students. Daisuke unfortunately was standing a bit too close and got shoved into even more oncoming human traffic. Eventually he found his way to a wall and managed to scrape by that way, trying to avoid as many people as possible. When he finally arrived to where most of the people seemed to be heading, he found himself overcome with awe as he passed through the doors to an enormous auditorium. There was a large round stage in the center of the circular room and the walls were lined with rows upon rows of seats, seeming almost like a circus of sorts. Students were everywhere and if Daisuke had to guess, there must have been well over three-thousand of them. There were long, stained-glass windows placed here and there, but the most interesting aspect of the room was the fact the there was no ceiling, but rather a glass dome that appeared to change colors depending on how the light reflected on it. Daisuke stood, staring at the glass dome for so long, that he hadn't realized most of the students were already seated and whatever they came for was about to begin in a few minutes.

"Here! Sit with me!," a girl yelled excitedly, pulling Daisuke's hand and breaking him free of his trance. He staggered along willingly as he was pulled up some steps and situated himself in the fourth row with his guide.

"O-oh, okay. Thanks," he said quietly, glancing at the girl next to him. His eyes widened, noticing that this girl looked exactly like Riku. "Um, R-Riku your hair..."

"No, silly! Riku's my twin sister. I'm Risa, of course. You'll like me much better anyway," the girl said, laughingly. "You're supposed to be her roommate, right?"

"H-how did you know that?," Daisuke asked suspiciously, still a little thrown off by the overwhelming atmosphere.

"She told me, of course. Why, she seemed so excited to have gotten a normal roommate and she told me you were really cute, big-eyed, and had wicked red hair. That is you, right? God, if it's not I'll be really embarrassed!"

"About that...I need to talk to Ri-," Daisuke began, but got cut off by the screeching sound of the microphone being moved. "What is this?"

"Orientation, silly! And why aren't you in uniform?," Risa squealed, just now aware that he was in dark jeans and an Invader Zim t-shirt.

"I wasn't aware that I was supposed to be in uniform," Daisuke admitted, blushing as he did. Now that he thought of it, he did find it odd that Dark grabbed a blazer from the closet as he left. Daisuke figured the guy just liked to dress nicely.

"Awww, you're so cute! Didn't you read the brochure? 'Sunday, 2 P.M. Be in uniform.'? Ah, it doesn't matter. With all these people, they probably won't even notice." Daisuke did remember reading that in the brochure, but with all the commotion last night and him fretting over what he thought Dark said about belonging to him, must have made him forget about it.

"Yeah, I'll just try not to be seen. Ugh, why did we have to sit in the fourth row?"

"Don't worry! I didn't notice until just a few seconds ago," Risa reassured him, patting his shoulder.

"Yeah, but now I'm all paranoid. Maybe I should just skip this and go back to the room," Daisuke thought aloud, rising to head back down the stairs.

"Well, this thing is mandatory, but they probably aren't expecting everyone to be here anyway. Just leave quickly before anyone spots you."

"My thoughts exactly," he agreed, just as Dark began to make his way up the steps; the two guys from sign-up, Krad and Satoshi in tow. "...Or not. Hide me!"

"What? Why are you whispering? Did someone see you?! Oh no," Risa squeaked, looking around frantically, drawing all the more attention to their general area.

"Shhh! He's gonna see me! Hide me, quick," Daisuke whispered anxiously, yanking Risa onto his lap so quickly, she had to verify her surroundings. This earned him some hoots and hollers, which immediately attracted the attention of Dark and both of his friends. Daisuke shrunk behind Risa, not even chancing to peek over her shoulders, because he knew for a fact they'd be staring.

"Oh my God. Those guys are so gorgeous!," Risa chimed, grinning at them as they walked by. "I mean, really...really g-"

"Okay, I got it. Just tell me when the coast is clear, please and thank you."

"Fine, the coast is clear. They're already in their seats, jeez. What's so scary about 'em anyway?" Rolling her eyes, Risa readjusted herself on her new seat - mainly Daisuke, before crossing her arms with an obvious attitude.

"Sorry. It's not really them. Just the one in front. I don't think he likes me all that much, or rather it's hard to tell, 'cause he's kind of cryptic," Daisuke explained, giving the guy next to him a half-hearted high-five. Apparently getting Risa to sit on your lap is an achievement. "He kind of scares me. Well, only a little, but don't tell him that."

"You know him?!," Risa gasped, feeling the excitement bubbling up within herself.

"He's my roommate, but I've only talked to him a little bit so I can't really say I know him at all," Daisuke stated quietly, pushing Risa into her previous spot.

"But what about...? Oh! You bad, bad girl! Sneaking into boys' rooms! Just scandalous!," Risa sang, playfully slapping Daisuke's arm.

"Risa, I'm a guy. Do I really look that much like a female? Really? I mean, I'm not even cross-dressing," Daisuke explained, seeming somewhat disheartened.

"But you're rooming with my sister! You! You womanizer! And you had me on your lap!," Risa yelped, turning playful slaps into full on battery.

"No, wait! That was a misunderstanding! I even tried to find her today to give her the room key back, but I ended up here. Don't worry, I slept in the male dorms, I promise," Daisuke said in his defense, trying to evade most of Risa's attacks while giving the guy next to him another high-five for apparently having two sisters pining over him. "And just forget about the lap thing. You smell really nice and you're as light as a feather."

"R-really? You know, I was trying to lose a couple of pounds. Thank you," Risa beamed, ending her barrage of attacks instantly. "And no, you don't look like a girl that much. You're just really, really cute. So when Riku said you were a girl, I could immediately see it, 'cause I'd thought you were a girl to begin with, but I can see you're a guy too. You're like the ultimate form of androgyny!" Daisuke was unsure of how he was supposed to respond to that, but luckily for him, he didn't have to as the orientation was about to begin.

"Welcome students, friends, and faculty, to a new year at Akune and Amame High Academy. Now, for those of you who don't know me, I'm the academy's headmaster and also head chairman, Mr. Takiyama. These lovely ladies and gentlemen you see behind me are the people who make up our Board. Please, if you would, stand up and take a bow when I call your name so the students can familiarize themselves with your faces," Mr. Takiyama began, earning moans and sighs from the students. Daisuke could guess that orientations were boring. Teachers and old people trying to act excited is always a recipe for disaster, but why everyone else around him seemed to be acting like they were suffering a slow and painful death was beyond him. He glanced around at the other students, finding none of them of any particular interest and even though he was probably just imagining it, he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.

* * *

"Man, orientations are so overplayed," Krad whined, leaning his head back and attempting to catch an M&M he'd just tossed into the air. Satoshi, who was holding the extra-large resealable bag of peanut M&M's, nodded his head in silent agreement, smiling just a little when Krad completely missed catching the aforementioned chocolatey snack. "Oh, hush up, Satoshi. I'd like to see you catch one like that."

"I could, but I'm not in the mood to show you up." At this, Krad laughed aloud, rousting out murmurs from the students around him.

"Why so quiet, Darkie-poo? You were talking non-stop earlier." Both Krad and Satoshi stared at the violet-haired man who seemed to be glaring intensely at someone a few rows down from where the three of them sat. "Oh, God. It's always someone. Who's the unlucky guy, this time, Dark?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dark replied coldly, still maintaining his unflinching stare.

"Oh, please. The last time you glared like that, Satoshi's lab partner accidentally caught you're history paper on fire with a Bunsen burner."

"He meant to do that. You can't accidentally catch a history paper, which was in my bag, on fire. Even if it wasn't in my bag, you'd have to put it in the fire unless, of course, my paper had magical levitating powers, which would explain everything," Dark said sarcastically, still glaring into the middle distance.

"You're right. Total douche."

"Hey, that guy was a friend of four years," Satoshi added, although he didn't seem all that hurt by Krad's remark.

"A friend of four years who turned out to be a total douche. I've corrected myself and I apologize," Krad chuckled, giving up on catching M&M's and just stuffing his face with them – which for Krad, meant eating them one at a time and rolling them over his tongue until both the candy shell and chocolate had melted away; quietly chewing the peanut within.

"I appreciate it."

"Haha. Seriously, Dark. What's wrong with you today? I swear, I feel like Satoshi and I are being accomplices to your murdering ways. At least that's what we can assume, 'cause with the look you're giving to whoever is over there, you can't be thinking of pickin' daisies." At that, Dark directed his glare out of the corner of his eye at Krad who immediately looked away. "And...dropping the topic. Who's up for a back-to-school shopping trip? I know you love the smell of new textbooks, Satoshi," Krad suggested, attempting to change the subject.

"I'm getting out of here," Dark almost growled, standing up and walking back down the steps from whence he came.

"Did I say something wrong?" Satoshi shrugged his shoulders and both he and Krad watched as Dark quickly descended the stairs, stopping when he got to the fourth row and taking off his jacket. Once the jacket was off, he tossed it to a small red-head sitting next to the girl who had grinned at him as he walked past the first time. It looked as if the girl had smiled at Dark again as he walked by, but was completely ignored almost as if she were invisible. The two administrators at the doors didn't even attempt to stop Dark as he left the auditorium, which must have meant either he gave a damn good excuse for leaving or they realized he wouldn't have heard them even if they'd protested. "What was that, just now?"

"I'm not sure," Satoshi answered, also looking at the people in the fourth row.

"Did he just throw his jacket at that boy?"

"I believe so."

"Could you not answer everything with three words?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Satoshi said, with a small smirk, hearing Krad release a long, frustrated sigh.

"Give me those goddamn M&M's," Krad scoffed, snatching the candy from Satoshi's lap. "You're helping me investigate when this is over!" Just as he had said this, the orientation had concluded. "Shorter than I thought. Let's go." Satoshi wasn't one for taking orders, but he'd follow Krad anywhere as long as the blond had confiscated his favorite candy – not that he was a slave to food, but after paying seven bucks for the jumbo resealable bag, Satoshi thought it best to get his money's worth out of it. It took them a while to catch up with the two people from the fourth row, but once everyone had exited the auditorium, it became much easier.

"Wah! You look so adorable. Almost like you're playing dress-up in your dad's clothes or something," Risa squealed, tugging on the oversized jacket Daisuke was wearing.

"It's not that much bigger on me," Daisuke retorted, a little self-conscious about his small stature. His blush was immediate.

"Well, well...Lookie what we have here," Krad began coolly, walking up with his hands in his pockets; Satoshi serving as a wingman. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Who? M-me?," Daisuke choked out, not doing anything remotely incriminating, but still feeling a tad bit nervous.

"Yes, you. Whose jacket do you think you're wearing, right now?" Krad finished this question with an overly exaggerated raising of his brow. Very bad acting skills.

"Dark's?," Daisuke asked, raising an equally exaggerated brow.

"Dark who?"

"Krad enough. We both saw Dark give this guy his jacket. The question is 'Why?,'" Satoshi broke in, becoming increasingly annoyed by the stupidity of the situation.

"Satoshi, you're supposed to be my wingman! You know like in police shows where one guy talks and the other guy just looks around the suspect's house nonchalantly while offering a word of instigating advice, only at the most critical points of a suspect's story!" Satoshi rolled his eyes, folding his arms as he did.

"But he's not suspected of anything!," Risa pleaded, the only one taken in by the makeshift cop act Krad was trying to create.

"That's what he wants you to think!," Krad yelled in response, pointing an accusing finger at the red-head in question. Risa inched away from Daisuke, watching Krad's long finger as she did.

"You have really nice nails. Do you do them yourself?," she asked quietly, finding a spot next to Satoshi.

"Oh, thank you and yes, I do, do them myself. Honestly, I find painting them with a coat of Keratin gel once or twice a week, depending on your free time, really helps make your nails not only stronger, but also more vibrant looking." After saying this, Daisuke, Satoshi, and Risa all had their eyes on him.

"Can I borrow that?"

"Oh, absolutely," Krad said quickly before clearing his throat. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Why'd Dark give you his jacket? He was pissed at you wasn't he? What have you got on him to make him want to get undressed for you?"

"Get undressed for me? I'm sorry what? I don't have anything on him and I don't think he was mad at me. I've barely even known him for like a day, let alone spoken to him," Daisuke answered, seemingly confused beyond all belief.

"Bull Shenanigan! He was glaring at you like you were a pair of white pants after Labor Day!," Krad stated briskly, pursing his lips while twisting the ends of his ponytail around his fingers. Risa gasped, apparently finding the hypothetical white pants just as, if not more horrific than Krad.

"What is that supposed to mean? And for the record he didn't even glare at me. He just stopped and said 'Put this on,' threw the jacket, and continued walking. He probably let me borrow it, because I wasn't wearing my uniform. I'd forgotten we were supposed to," Daisuke said, staring up at Krad with those colossal ruby red eyes a'glistenin'. Krad scowled at first, but he couldn't stop staring into the red-head's eyes, which looked as if they were going to overflow with tears at any moment. Daisuke had gotten him - hook, line, and sinker with puppy dog eyes to die for.

"O-oh, okay. I'm sorry, then," Krad said, blinking furiously as he tried to stop his eyes from watering. Satoshi shook his head, knowing full well what Daisuke's story was gonna be and that the person Dark was glaring at was Risa, for whatever reason.

"Let's go, Krad," Satoshi called out to Krad, having already been on his way towards a random hallway. "'Straight as straight gets' my ass."

"Wait, just one more question!," Krad said abruptly, turning back to Daisuke. "How do you know him? Dark, I mean."

"He kicked my roommate out of our dorm and says he's gonna be my roommate now."

"D-did he say anything else? Anything out of the ordinary? Something like 'I'll have your soul?' Anything?" Krad and Satoshi both stared at each other for a little longer than what's normally considered just a glance.

"Well, no. Not really, why?," Daisuke giggled, a tiny blush forming on his cheeks. "Does he normally go around claiming people's souls?"

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean 'Not exactly?' Like what? Is he gonna try to cannibalize me in my sleep? You're kinda making him seem like a creepy soul eater thing," Daisuke said, shifting his eyes from Krad to Satoshi, then back to Krad.

"No, it's just...Well, he can be...What's the word? He's just difficult to be around, I suppose," Krad thought aloud, unsure of whether or not 'difficult' was a suitable enough word to describe Dark. "You know what? Let me just give you my number and you can call me if you need anything. To talk or whatever. How's that?"

"Sure, okay," Daisuke agreed, happily. After putting Krad's number in his phone, Daisuke watched as Krad and Satoshi parted from them, leaving just Risa and himself wondering what the blond meant by 'difficult.' The two of them stared at each other, then just shrugged it off as nonsense. "Well, that was awkward, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, just a bit," Risa answered, just relieved that she wasn't the only one thinking it. "I guess we should get back to our rooms, huh?"

"Actually it's only four and I could really go for something to eat."

"Really?," Risa sang, smiling from ear to ear. "Oh, I know a great burger place! It's really good and cheap!"

"Sounds great," Daisuke said, equally as excited. This would be the first time he'd ever gone to a restaurant with an actual friend. In essence it'd be the first time he'd gone anywhere with an actual friend. He had had so much fun just sitting and talking, that he and Risa didn't get back to the school grounds until about eight o'clock. Daisuke felt it was almost too good to be true, that he could actually find a friend before school even started. A friend that was a girl, at that. He was grinning all the way back to his room, confident that he would make even more friends in the days to come. "Hey! I got some-"

"Where the fuck have you been?," Dark asked calmly. It was almost hard to tell if he was serious or not, because right after he'd said this, he bursted into laughter.

"I went out to eat with a friend," Daisuke replied, still ecstatic that he could actually say 'friend' and mean it. "I brought you something, too. Wait, what is that smell?" Walking a bit further into the room, Daisuke could see a visible fog encircling him and the closer he got, he noticed that Dark was smoking. "Gah! What is that?! Dark, you can't smoke in here! We could get in serious trouble!"

"This?," the violet-haired boy asked, holding the blunt in his hand up in front of his eyes for closer inspection. "They call it Blue...No wait. Sweet Havana Dream or something like Blue Coconut Drop, maybe. You know, I'm not sure. These are samples, I think."

"What do you mean you think? Sweet Havana? Dark is that weed?! Are you fucking kidding me?! We could get expelled!," Daisuke yelled, snatching what was left of Dark's blunt and putting it out in the soap dish Dark was using for an ash tray. "And this is not an ash tray!"

"Kind of like these, I guess," Dark said, slowly getting up and grabbing a bag with five or six more samples in it. The blunts were three and a half to four inches long each. "Why?"

"Why, what?!"

"Haha! Why are you so mad? Come here and smoke with me," Dark coughed out, lighting one of the samples he'd gotten and taking a drag.

"No! What is wrong with you?! You have to get rid of that stuff before people smell it! And there are smoke detectors in here, I hope you know!," Daisuke continued to yell, taking a book and waving the smoke away from the detector on the ceiling. "Ugh, would you stop smoking and help me make sure this thing doesn't go off?!"

"That's why the windows are open," Dark laughed, taking another drag off of his blunt. "Now, calm down and smoke with me, Red."

"Uh, no. We shouldn't be doing that, 'cause it's against the rules," Daisuke said quietly, now no longer facing the threat of setting off alarms.

"Whose rules?"

"The school's rules!"

"Who's to say those are the rules that should be followed?" Daisuke shot a glare at Dark, folding his arms tightly across his chest. "Look, we won't get caught as long as you don't say anything. I promise I won't." Dark flashed a winning smile as Daisuke crossed the room towards him. "It's my first time trying it, and it's not so bad."

"R-really? Why'd you try it by yourself?," Daisuke asked curiously, trying desperately to post-pone trying it himself. It didn't seem so bad watching Dark do it, but it made him nervous all the same.

"To avoid embarrassing myself, of course. Here," Dark chuckled quietly, passing the blunt to Daisuke who just held it in his hand. "Don't waste it. Smoke it."

"I don't think I want to. Sorry, it just seems like a big decision to make and it's supposed to be a gateway drug, so I'd rather not, thanks." Dark stared at the boy for a while, then frowned, before taking the blunt back.

"Fine," Dark said shortly, taking a long drag off of the blunt and blowing smoke directly in Daisuke's face.

"You're not mad, are you?," Daisuke inquired, waving smoke out of his face as he watched Dark close his eyes and lean his head back on the footboard of his bed. He'd been sitting on the floor. Dark slowly opened his eyes, focusing on the boy who saw that they were completely dilated to the point where they were almost black.

"No, it's totally cool if you're a fucking square," Dark said, before closing his eyes again. "Just don't narc on me. I'll kill you."

"Narc?"

"Don't tell anyone."

"O-oh, I wouldn't. I mean, I-I won't. Sorry, I'm just anxious," Daisuke stammered, fidgeting as he sat in front of Dark. "Would you really kill me if I did tell someone?" At this, Dark hit him with the intense glare he'd been shooting at the back of Risa's head during the orientation. Daisuke's eyes widened, making him feel all the more nervous.

"They say nervous people talk. In other words, you need to relax. So you have two choices." Daisuke nodded, waiting for his options. "Either you smoke this yourself, or I'm going to force it down your throat. You've got twenty seconds to decide."

"Are you serious? Dark, like really serious?"

"What do you think? You don't ask a question like 'Would you really kill me if I did tell someone?' unless you were, in fact, planning on telling someone. In which case, you'd be narcing on me, which by the way, if I recall correctly, you specifically promised me you wouldn't. So I can't trust you now and high people are very, very paranoid. But, you can't tell on me if you're high too. So yes, I'm being completely, one hundred percent, dead fucking serious. You now have ten seconds."

"I-is it gonna burn my fingers?," Daisuke asked quickly, more scared now, than nervous. He stared at Dark for a moment, who just stared back, counting down on his fingers.

"Five..."

"Wait! Wait, I need more time to think!"

"Four..."

"Dark, wait! This really isn't my thing! I won't tell anyone, I swear!"

"Three...Two..."

"Okay, fine! Teach me!," Daisuke yelped, gripping the leg of Dark's pants. Smiling to himself, Dark handed Daisuke the blunt which had now been burned down nearly half-way.

"Draw in air through that and make sure to inhale as you do. Hold it for as long as you want, then exhale. Just don't get my blunt too wet." Daisuke nodded and brought the blunt up to his lips - hands visibly shaking, as he did. He took a quick drag, inhaling shortly thereafter and holding it for almost five seconds before coughing the smoke back out. "Well?"

"I-it...It certainly is d-different," Daisuke coughed out, bringing his hand up to his throat which still tingled from the heated smoke. Feeling completely pumped up due to the possibility of being caught, Daisuke took a second hit of the blunt he still held with a sense of accomplishment.

"Finish it," Dark said, after Daisuke tried to give him back the blunt, lighting another one up for himself. "There are four left. Two for each of us and we're going to smoke them before we go to sleep, understood?" Daisuke nodded, smoking the blunt he had until the heat got to be too much for his fingers, then putting it out on the makeshift ash tray.

"Dark...Dark, is it really your first time smoking this, or did you just say that to try to get me to smoke with you?," Daisuke asked slowly, sprawling out on the floor next to Dark as he did.

"It was my first time smoking this particular strain of weed, yes, but I may have lied a bit to get you to smoke with me. It's no fun smoking by yourself," Dark admitted, laughing to himself.

"That's rude, but understandable, I guess. So I won't be upset with you. Where did you get this from anyway?"

"From a friend. Why? You interested in buying?"

"No. No, I was just curious. Mm, do I really have to finish those other two before I go to sleep? I'm already tired," Daisuke mumbled, getting up and climbing into his bed, feeling somewhat light-headed as he did. "I can always finish them later, maybe."

"Well, I don't know. I put a lot of effort into getting you to smoke this time. I'm not sure I'll have the stamina later if you don't feel like it," Dark sighed, smirking in Daisuke's general direction.

"I promise...soon I'll...yeah...," Daisuke trailed off, falling asleep almost immediately after climbing into bed.

"Fine," Dark answered back, his reply falling on deaf ears as he put the unused samples in a Bible with the center cut out of it. Feeling bored all of a sudden, Dark walked over to the door and slipped on his shoes, figuring he should have just a little bit more fun before tomorrow, which would be the official start of the school year.

* * *

**Well, that's chapter one! Ugh, I'm always so nervous about putting up a new story. *Sweatdrop* I hope it wasn't too terribly bad. First time writing a story like this, but alas leave a review and tell me what ya thought. And it can be as brutal as you want it to be, just make it honest. =D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the main characters in this story, however, this does not deter me from putting them in horrible/slightly amusing, yet highly unlikely scenarios.**

* * *

CHAPTER TWO

There was almost a winter-like feel about the dorm room. The pale light seeping in from the windows bathed the room with a soft glow, as the sun was not quite up yet. Just waiting to make its grand entrance as the clock struck seven and it seemed to be all at once that the rays of pink and orange washed over Daisuke's bed, making him scrunch up his face and curl deeper beneath his comforters. What he wouldn't kill for just one more hour of sleep. He'd almost thought about ignoring the sun altogether and heading back to sleep, but the sound of movement in the room had caught his attention; curiosity getting the better of him.

"Dark...What...What are you doing?," Daisuke called out from beneath his comforters, still not fully up to the challenge of sunrise versus unadjusted eyes.

"Getting ready for class, of course," Dark replied, smoothly as he rummaged through his things for the maroon tie that goes with his uniform. Dark's side of the closet was a mess, to say the least. While Daisuke was out having fun with Risa, Dark brought all of his clothes from his assigned dorm in, not hanging them up, but tossing them into one big heap on the empty side of the closet.

"Keep it down, 'cause I'm trying to sleep." Dark raised an eyebrow at this, shrugging his shoulders, then returning to his quest for his tie. "Wait! What time is it?!" Daisuke threw off his covers and leapt out of bed, stopping for a moment to catch himself on the edge of his bed, shielding his now burning eyes as he let them adjust to the light.

"Ten past seven," Dark said, glancing at his watch, before finding his tie and holding it up in triumph.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!," Daisuke fumed, running into the bathroom, not even stopping to get a better look at the girl in Dark's bed, who was also enjoying a late start this morning.

"I wasn't aware I was supposed to wake you up, honey," Dark retorted in what we can assume was a motherly tone. Daisuke rolled his eyes, drinking some water from the sink, because for some reason his mouth was completely dry. "Hm, cottonmouth. Drink lots of water."

"It just would have been nice if you had woken me up, is all I'm saying." Dark smirked at this, having had a mind to wake him up early, but not for class. Shaking his head, he began to work on his tie in the mirror, staring as Daisuke brushed his teeth. "And who is the person in your bed? Surely they've got class, too."

"It's no one important," Dark said blankly, undoing his tie and starting over. "If she's late for class, it's her own fault." Daisuke frowned minutely glancing in the direction the girl would be in if there wasn't a wall in the way.

"Well what happened to kicking me out if you were having a girl over?," Daisuke asked haughtily, holding his toothbrush in his mouth, before tying Dark's tie for him, having learned on his own from the many black tie events held at his home.

"At the time, it was a little hard to be thinking about you." With this, Dark smirked at Daisuke, ruffling the boy's hair, before picking up his own toothbrush and coating it with toothpaste.

"Did you have sex with her last night?," Daisuke inquired, honestly curious.

"No, we just cuddled and read romance novels on our matching Kindles," Dark said dryly, staring at Daisuke like he had 'stupid' stamped across his forehead.

"Oh. I barely ever use my Kindle."

"Yes, I fucked her, Daisuke." Dark's eye twitched slightly with irritation, watching Daisuke stop mid-brush to ponder this new information. He spit and rinsed out his mouth, before splashing water on his face and drying it with a hand towel. After a few moments he turned to face Dark directly.

"Okay, so you were being sarcastic. But...I slept through it?," Daisuke asked, just shocked that he would actually bring a girl over and sleep with her no less than fifteen feet away from him.

"Like a baby. It helped that she wasn't much of a screamer. Then again, it's hard to make a lot of noise when you're being gagged." Daisuke's eyes widened, looking at Dark with an expression of confusion.

"Is that what girls like?" Daisuke waited patiently for Dark to spit and rinse the toothpaste residue from his mouth, just watching and wondering how even the simple act of brushing one's teeth can seem so...intriguing.

"Some girls," Dark said moving closer to Daisuke as he did. "They might find they like the way something so smooth and fragile, like a silk handkerchief can also serve as an unbreakable restraint. It becomes a turn-on." Daisuke tensed up, feeling Dark stop, standing right behind him. Picking up the soft towel that Daisuke had used to dry his face, Dark held it up in front of the boy, twisting it and pulling it taut, demonstrating the strength of the fabric under stress. "Although, it's not always optional." Daisuke shivered as the warmth from Dark's body seemed to mingle with his. He hadn't realized Dark had gotten so close to where he was mere inches from behind the boy, staring at him intently in the mirror. Daisuke couldn't look up at their reflection for reasons unknown to himself, feeling both excited, but also scared out of his wits. Breaking Daisuke from his trance, Dark untwisted the towel and ripped it in half effortlessly, smirking as Daisuke nearly jumped out of his skin. "I'll have to show you sometime."

"N-no. That's okay. Really. I think I get the...the uh...the general idea," Daisuke managed to say. It was a miracle he could get his mouth to work, because his body was frozen where it stood. He was overcome by the shock of the warm hand sliding over the lower part of his abdomen. Daisuke hadn't even realized the hand covering his on the marble countertop, but even as these things registered, he couldn't for the life of him find the strength to move.

"Are you sure?," Dark whispered huskily into the boy's ear. "You might like it." Daisuke just nodded in response, finally glancing up at himself in the mirror. Dark had caught his eye, smirking at the boy as he inched his hand further towards Daisuke's belt line. As much as Daisuke would like to, he couldn't bring himself to look away - his breath growing unsteady as Dark closed the few remaining inches left between them, holding Daisuke against his own body. "God, you smell fucking delicious."

"A-are you gonna e-eat my soul?," Daisuke blurted out, remembering Krad's comment about Dark having the tendency to not really, but somewhat claim innocent souls and shaking as Dark's heat seeped into his back. He leaned deeper into Dark's warmth, trying to escape both the cold air in the bathroom and the hand which had just unbuttoned the jeans he was still wearing from last night. Dark chuckled sinisterly, gladly accepting the boy closer to him, removing the hand that pinned Daisuke's to the counter and resting it on the smaller boy's hip.

"That doesn't seem like such a bad idea," he said, gobbling up the image of the two of them in the mirror. "You wouldn't mind, would you?" Dark lightly licked Daisuke's neck as his fingertips made their way into the red-head's pubic hair, where he rested them enjoying the flicker of different emotions as they passed on Daisuke's face in the mirror. Daisuke's breath hitched in his throat - his mouth going completely dry as he felt a slow churn of heat building up in his nether regions.

"M-maybe...maybe if you ask nicely," Daisuke said in what was almost a whisper, blushing furiously. Dark tightened his grip on Daisuke's hip pinning the boy to him as he stared at him in the mirror with a look that basically screamed 'I'm going to fuck you.' Daisuke watched him in the mirror as well, biting his lip as he did. He'd never had anyone look at him the way Dark was staring at him right now, and he found it oddly appealing, but also just as frightening. He couldn't stop making eye contact, even though the hand on his hip was digging into him something fierce. After a few more moments, the pain began to set in, hitting Daisuke all at once. "Ah, let go...," Daisuke hissed, flinching a little, before grabbing Dark's wrist. "Dark!" It took Dark a moment to realize he'd still been holding on, releasing his death grip on the boy shortly after. "Ouch, that's really gonna bruise." Removing his hand from Daisuke's pants, Dark glanced down at the boy, examining the hip in question, which was already reddening where his fingers had been.

"Yeah, looks like it," Dark said softly, his eyes still clouded over with thoughts of lust.

"Gah! You've only been my roommate for a day, and already I've got battle wounds," Daisuke whispered, his voice a little shaky, still unaware of what to make of this awkward situation. Dark smirked inwardly, thinking to himself that if the boy wished it or even if he didn't, there would be plenty more where that came from, as he buttoned Daisuke's pants before standing back up and taking one last look in the mirror.

"And look," Dark said, glancing at his watch. "You've made me late."

"S-sorry," Daisuke stammered out quietly, watching as Dark backed away from him and disappeared into the closet. Daisuke blinked for a moment, running his fingers over his arm which was riddled with goosebumps. _What had just happened? Or rather, what was Dark thinking? And why the hell did I just apologize to him?_ Daisuke shook his head. He knew exactly what Dark was thinking and exactly what the boy was looking for when he stuck his hand down his pants, but what was it, Daisuke wondered, that made him want it as well. As much as he tried to deny it, Daisuke knew for a fact that the moment Dark stopped his hand, for a time, no matter how small it might have been, he wished the older boy hadn't. Even so, the boy couldn't shake the feeling of being uncomfortable, almost like the air in the room was just heavy with a foreboding aura. Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but it did absolutely nothing to quell the chills running through him. It took Daisuke a while to collect his feelings about what had just happened, but he came to the conclusion that maybe the two of them were still high from last night. Unlikely? Maybe, but Daisuke liked to think he could use it as an excuse and blame it on the fact that he had had no previous dealings with recreational drugs what-so-ever. When he finally got the nerve to go back into the room, he walked in on Dark throwing a pillow at the still sleeping girl.

"Hey, playtime's over. Time to move out," Dark said, throwing yet another pillow at the girl who slowly woke up, looking as if she's forgotten where she was.

"Hm, you're that guy from last night...," she said, smiling to herself.

"And you're the girl from this morning. You need to go."

"Okay, whatever you say," she laughed, nearly tumbling out of bed to reveal that she was completely naked. Daisuke averted his gaze, just waiting for her to at least semi-clothe herself, trying to seem as invisible as possible. Once the girl had covered herself with her discarded undergarments, Daisuke found the strength to glance back over, noticing the disheveled bed sheets which seemed to have blood on them. He shivered at the sight, deciding to look elsewhere in the hopes that if he pretended he didn't see them, he might actually fool himself into forgetting that he did.

"I gotta go, Red. Make sure she doesn't touch anything," Dark said, hastily grabbing up his cell phone and keys as he headed towards the door. Daisuke snapped from his gruesome thoughts and stared at the taller boy for a moment, taking time to register what he was being told to do. _Ugh, I still haven't gotten ready yet. I'm gonna be so late._

"But-!," Daisuke began before being cut off.

"Just watch her for ten minutes. She's a slut, but she's not contagious." Daisuke couldn't believe Dark had just said something so rude, much less in front of the girl in question. He looked at the stumbling girl and judged that she must still be fairly drunk or on whatever drugs kids take these days. Thinking this, Daisuke laughed to himself. 'Kids these days' as if he weren't also a part of that collective group.

"Aw, don't be like that. Hey, are ya gonna call me later?," asked the girl who was currently yanking on her jeans.

"Probably not." And with that, Dark disappeared into the hall. Daisuke looked at the girl who seemed a little down at Dark's last comment and it almost made him feel bad for her.

"You know, you could really do much better than him," Daisuke said in an attempt to cheer her up.

"What are you talking about? Just help me find my other shoe, please." _Could it really be that there are girls who are actually attracted to guys like that? Rude, dismissive, 'hit it, then quit it' guys? Unbelievable._

By the time Daisuke had helped the girl find all of her belongings, got himself dressed, and found his way to his first class, he was already twenty-two minutes late, which did not bode well for any lingering glimpse of hope towards a good first impression. As soon as he entered the classroom, he knew he couldn't just get away with a 'Sorry, I'm late' approach because the instructor looked at him like 'You-dare-to-enter-my-classroom-late? Beware-of-your-impending-DOOM!' Then again, Daisuke couldn't very well tell his teacher that he'd gotten high with his roommate the night before, which is why he slept so soundly and woke up late, nearly got fondled in the bathroom, and had to shoo his roommate's naked one-night-stand out the door, all before 8 A.M.

"I assume you are Daisuke Niwa. Is that correct?," the instructor drawled out, pointing at Daisuke with one of those retractable pointy stick things people use for presentations, but are rarely used in this day and age. Daisuke blushed, having been put on the spot, but nodded his head in response.

"Yes, sir. I'm Daisuke Ni-," Daisuke began cheerfully, before being cut off by his seemingly annoyed teacher.

"And I assume you are aware that you are twenty-two minutes tardy, are you not?," the instructor inquired raising a wiry brow.

"Well, sir. I-"

"Answer the question with a simple 'yes' or 'no,' please and thank you," the man went on, enunciating the word 'answer' so that he could cleanly cut Daisuke off.

"Yes, I am aware that I'm twenty min-"

"Twenty-two...Minutes late..." Making use of his retractable pointer, the instructor slammed it against the newly scrubbed blackboard, pointing upwards towards the clock hanging in the center above it.

"Yes, twenty-two minutes late, but I-"

"Then I can also assume that you must not take school all that seriously, as you can obviously tell the time! A boy as smart as I hope you are for the sake of your grade, should surely know what time class is in session and be there on time, which as we've already discussed, you weren't! So either you are a complete idiot or you have no respect for this institution!" The teacher was apparently so angry, that as he yelled, strands of his long brown hair fell from his ponytail and his bangs hung into his rectangular glasses. "So...Which is it, Niwa?," he asked, carefully tucking strands of hair behind his ears. Daisuke just stood in the doorway for a moment, stunned by having been yelled at directly. No one had ever gotten that angry with him before, so it took a moment for it to register. "Which is it?!" With another 'thwack,' the instructor smacked the retractable pointer on his desk to get Daisuke's attention, which only made the boy jump slightly.

"I-I'm sorry, s-sir. I really, I just woke up late. I didn't set up my alarm and my r-roommate didn't think to...t-to wake me up," Daisuke began sniffling, eyes glistening with the makings of tears. Some of the guys in the class began to laugh thinking of a grown boy crying because of a teacher, but as Daisuke looked around at his classmates, they couldn't help but to notice his overwhelming cuteness. "I'm...I-I'm so s-sorry. I p-p-promise I won't be late again." With this, he turned towards his teacher, pouting up at him with those ruby-red dough eyes, revealing to the class, his knitted, white bunny rabbit backpack that Towa, his maid had made for him, only adding to his adorableness. Mind you, he doesn't cry, he's just in the 'oh-I'm-so-cute-don't-you-dare-make-me-cry' stage.

"Hey now. Now don't you worry about what I said earlier, just try to be on time from now on, okay?," the instructor cooed, feeling really bad about torturing such a cute little thing. "I'll be your Psychology teacher, Mr. Kamada. You'll find your seat and everything you need on the third row of the middle section, first seat on the left. Class, make sure you make Daisuke Niwa feel welcome." Daisuke smiled to himself, walking up the steps to his seat. The classroom was a semi-circular room with six rounded rows of seats. Everything from the desks to the floors was of a dark wood that made the room have a very earthen smell to it which went nicely with the smell of new textbooks and freshly sharpened pencils. Mr. Kamada's desk was at the center of the room in front of a long blackboard which stretched the entire length of the wall behind him. Once Daisuke found his seat, a few people introduced themselves, booing Mr. Kamada as they did. "Hey! Quiet! Don't make me come up there!"

"That's quite a show you put on up there," said a boy across the aisle from Daisuke, laughing quietly to himself all the while.

"Whatever do you mean?," Daisuke asked, laughing as well as he glanced over the Psychology syllabus.

"Haha, name's Saehara. Nice to meet ya." At this, the brown-haired boy put on a brilliant smile, causing Mr. Kamada to glare furiously in his direction.

"Saehara, if you don't hush up, I'll have your head on a platter. You've failed my class once already. Let's save us both the misery of going through this again next year, hm?," Mr. Kamada called out, putting Saehara on the spot. The class was in uproarous laughter at Saehara's expense. "I know Niwa has a cute face, but it's not that cute. Now pay attention!" Mr. Kamada went on to talk about dreams and sleep cycles and their significance, which Daisuke actually found kind of interesting. Every now and then he would look over and see that Saehara was doodling or texting someone. It was no wonder the boy failed psychology. The guy didn't even take notes. It seemed as if Psychology went by extremely fast, although admittedly, it helped having been twenty-two minutes late.

"Niwa, what class ya got after this?," Saehara asked, walking over to Daisuke's seat.

"Hm, looks like I have Women's Studies," Daisuke replied after having a look at his schedule.

"Dude, what kind of classes are you taking? Psychology? Women's Studies? I'm only in Psychology again, 'cause I was hoping to get the easy teacher, not the one that failed me last year. And Women's Studies just sounds like a super hard class," Saehara exclaimed, shocked that anyone would choose to be in either of those classes.

"Well, I enrolled at the last minute, so these electives were chosen for me. It was either these classes or Personal Finance and Entomology. I kind of like this class and Women's Studies supposedly is co-ed, because not enough people signed up for the class to be taught separately," Daisuke said getting up to leave.

"What?! No fair!" Just as Daisuke rose from his seat, he hadn't realized how close Saehara was standing next to his desk and consequently got hit with the books Saehara was holding - the books scraping against his bruised hip.

"Ah! Ouch!," Daisuke yelped, leaning against his desk for support. A couple of people shot Saehara some dirty looks, wondering why he was physically attacking poor ol' Daisuke.

"Sorry, man. Let me just-" Saehara began, reaching out to examine Daisuke's 'newly inflicted' injury. Daisuke shrank away from him, holding his hand to his hip, defensively.

"Leave it! It's fine!," Daisuke said quickly, catching the attention of a few passersby. "Don't worry, it's not you. I hurt it earlier this morning and that's part of the reason I was late today."

"Late for my class, because of a little scrape?," Mr. Kamada inquired, wondering why the two of them were still in his class, blocking traffic. "Let's see it, then." Daisuke blushed a cotton candy hue, shyly lifting up his shirt so that they could see. "Oh, my..." At first glance, you could sort of tell that the bruises were finger-like, but Dark's large hands in comparison to Daisuke's slender figure gave them more of a spidery appearance. You could tell they were fresh, just by looking at them, though - completely red and inflamed, much more so than an hour before.

"Ah, they don't look as bad as I thought they would. They feel worse than they look though, trust me," Daisuke laughed nervously.

"In that case, would you like a pain reliever? I haven't seen many bruises in my day, but those sure are some nasty looking whelps you have," said Mr. Kamada, taking a good long look at Daisuke's hip. "How did you get those? If you don't mind my asking, of course."

"Yeah, those are definitely some gnarly marks," Saehara agreed, snapping a picture of them with a camera that he'd pulled out of nowhere. Daisuke thought for a moment, knowing full well he couldn't tell them that Dark gave them to him while he was in the process of getting felt up in the mirror.

"This morning, I slipped getting out of the shower and I fell onto my box of candlesticks," Daisuke explained, blushing furiously just thinking about what had actually happened in the bathroom this morning, shivering at the thought.

"Remind me to stay away from candles. Jesus," Saehara said, patting Daisuke on the back, earning a nod from Mr. Kamada, who was also shocked that candles could do so much damage.

"Well not all candles. You have to take into account that I bruise really easily. I could have fallen into a box of cotton balls and still come out with a bruise or two." At this both Mr. Kamada and Saehara laughed before parting ways.

"Oh, hey," Saehara called out as he neared the door. "Wanna meet me in the garden for lunch today? I want to talk to you about my club."

"Okay sure!," Daisuke said excitedly, truly looking forward to it as he and Saehara parted ways. He had always wanted to join a club like he'd seen in those school movies that have the one kid who's in almost every club with pictures on nearly every page of the yearbook – mind you, one club would be enough for him. Thinking back on his years of nothing, but tutors, Daisuke smiled beginning to take in all the things he'd been missing by being home-schooled so to speak, glancing at the other students chatting in the halls as he made his way to his second period: Women's Studies. He felt as though he were actually a part of something, even though as of that moment he'd only made two or three friends, give or take. As he entered the classroom, which was located across campus to the Amame High Girls' Academy, he found that it was a quaint room with twenty or so desks arranged about along the walls at the sides and back of the room so that each desk faced the center of the room which was completely empty. There was a large desk at the front of the room in front of a wall-length blackboard, where a woman with dreadlocks and a long flowy floral skirt sat on the edge of said desk, humming as she glanced through the names of her roster.

"Oh! Here already, I see!," the woman chimed, hopping off of her desk as Daisuke popped his head further into the doorway. He had just noticed he was the first student to make it to class, thinking to himself that he might have come to the wrong classroom. "Come in! Come in!" Smiling, Daisuke did as he was told, finding a seat right in front of the empty middle space on the left side of the room which was facing the door.

"Am I too early?," Daisuke asked nervously, watching as the woman hastily began to place papers on each of the desks; her beaded jewelry jiggling as she moved. She raised her eyebrows at him, before glancing at her watch before nodding in response.

"Hm yes. The bell has rung, signaling the end of class; however, there is a fifteen minute break in between classes to allow everyone time to get to where they need to be," she explained, using her hands for emphasis. Daisuke sighed. He was so sure he'd be late, because he took the long way out of Akune High walking all through the courtyards and such to get to Amame High, completely unaware that there was a bridge-like structure connecting the two schools which would have cut at least five minutes off of his travel time. "Of course, there are students who use that time to get some air and stretch. With the length of these class periods, surely classrooms can get a bit stuffy, no?"

"My first class seemed okay to me, but then again, I'm new to all of this so everything's a little more exciting to me, I suppose," Daisuke said quietly, smiling up at the woman as she placed a set of papers on his desk, glancing over them shortly afterwards. She smiled back, giving Daisuke the once over before finishing her rounds.

"First time in a school like this?," she asked, becoming all the more interested in this fidgeting little red-head.

"First time in any school, actually." Shrugging his shoulders, Daisuke straightened his papers, laying them in the middle of his desk as other students began to slowly fill in the empty seats in the room.

"Oh, well lemme help you then, honey," the woman began, strolling back over to Daisuke's desk, having finished placing papers around the room. "We do things differently around here than other schools, as this is a private institution and we're here year-round. You'll have eight classes on your schedule. Do you have it with you? Here, I'll take a look." Daisuke nodded and took out his schedule for her to see, feeling sort of relieved that he wouldn't be completely in the dark about things. "Ah, okay. So each day, you'll go to four classes. Today you have this set here," she said, pointing to a set of classes on Daisuke's sheet and bracketing them with a pen she pulled out of her pocket – her flowy skirt pockets. "And these classes will be for tomorrow. Both of the sets alternate days so you'll have my class second period every other day, and this class second period on the off days. Each class is an hour and forty-five minutes with fifteen minute breaks in between each class. You'll have lunch right after your second period, which is an hour long."

"An hour for lunch? Wow, seems like a lot of free time," Daisuke cut in, beginning to like this school even more.

"Yes, but you must remember, you go to school six days a week from eight in the mornin' 'til four forty-five in the afternoon. You get Sundays off, though. And remember to wake up early, because the cafeteria serves breakfast at 6A.M., which is the most important meal of the day. Dinner is at 6P.M. and the curfew for dorms is at nine, so you should always remember to be punctual." As she said 'punctual' she touched her finger to the tip of her nose, smiling as she walked off towards her desk.

"Th-thank you," Daisuke stammered, not sure if she had heard him or not. It would seem people around this school had a habit of walking off randomly in the middle of conversations, at least in the boy's opinion. He could have asked her more questions, having been a sucker for details, but he figured she was helpful enough and all this talk about food made him remember that he hadn't had breakfast this morning and was in fact starving. Glancing about at some of the students, Daisuke found that some of them had chips and drinks, immediately thinking to himself that he'd need to find whatever vending machine they'd gotten them from so he could be prepared for tomorrow, should he happen to miss breakfast again. A stray glance at the door cleanly broke Daisuke's food-filled train of thought as the last three students entered the classroom who happened to be the seemingly inseparable trio: Dark, Krad, and Satoshi. Strolling into the room casually, Dark took the empty seat which was directly across the empty space in the center of the room from none other than the adorable red-head, now squirming in his seat. The violet-haired teen hadn't even noticed the boy, just the fact that there were only three seats left – two of which were situated right next to each other and one next to Daisuke. Had Dark noticed Daisuke sitting there, he'd have chosen the seat next to him, however, in empty seat terms, he'd have rather been sitting by someone he knew, not a random person on the other side of the room. Krad and Satoshi glanced at the empty seat next to Dark and then at each other, both thinking to make a dash for it, before settling on a quick game of rock-paper-scissors; a game which Krad lost, placing him in the seat next to Daisuke as the bluenette smirked in his direction, adjusting his books as he did.

"Ugh! Just my luck, getting stuck next to you," Krad said to no one in particular, causing the girl next to him to huff loudly, rolling her eyes at him as she did. Daisuke just shrugged, seeing how the blonde could be frustrated by not getting the seat he wanted.

"Sorry," Daisuke said quietly before glancing down at his papers, just hoping beyond all hope that Dark wouldn't notice him from across the empty space in the room. He had still been a bit embarrassed from the morning's events. Hearing a vaguely familiar voice, Krad peered over at Daisuke, leaning forward a bit in his desk to get a good look at the boy who was all but holding his papers straight up in front of his face.

"Hey, you're that guy," Krad laughed, noting Daisuke's red hair and thinking back to the orientation the day before. "The roommate."

"Yeah, that would be me. Daisuke Niwa…I put it in your phone…," Daisuke said in a 'you-should-totally-remember-me' sort of way.

"Oh, right!...Right…Yeah, I definitely remember you," Krad thought aloud as if this were some distant, far off memory and not just the day before. "How's that goin' for you, by the way? Roommate life that is?" Daisuke closed his eyes, just trying to figure out why Krad was speaking like he was coming out of a daze. After a few moments, Daisuke stared directly at the blonde, noting that his pupils were completely dilated and Krad seemed to be swaying slightly back and forth in his seat.

"It's going fine. All two days of it," Daisuke answered back, before his curiosity got the best of him. "I'm sorry, but are you high?" His voice was low enough to where only Krad and maybe the person on the other side of him could hear him. Krad's eyes widened, before he began shooting nervous glances around the room.

"Shhh! They'll hear you!," he said frantically, turning around in his seat to allow his eyes to dart about the people behind him too. Daisuke began to get paranoid as well, not seeing anyone remotely scary-looking in the vicinity.

"Who will hear me?," Daisuke asked, finding this all quite amusing.

"Them," Krad whispered, his eyes growing larger as he did, leaning closer to Daisuke as if what he was saying was of the utmost secrecy.

"What are you talking about," the red-head asked, laughing as he did.

"You're one of them, aren't you?"

"One of who?"

"You are! I know you are," Krad gasped, pointing full on in Daisuke's direction, before averting his gaze. "I can't speak to you anymore." Daisuke watched as Krad continuously eyed him, those large pupils seeming to cling to the corner of his eyes.

"Krad, you're starting to scare me," Daisuke muttered, shaking his head as he continued to read through the papers on his desk.

"I know. I think I'm starting to scare myself. I smoked way too much, I think. _Yeah…you did. You smoked way too much._ I know. I was just telling Daisuke that I'm too high for my own good. _Shut up. He's one of them. You don't talk to them, remember?_ Oh, that's right. Sorry, Daisuke, we aren't talking to you anymore." Daisuke blinked at the papers he was reading, trying to makes sense of the conversation Krad seemed to be having with himself, before bursting into laughter – all out gut-wrenching laughter, earning stares from nearly everyone in the room, including the one person he'd hoped wouldn't notice him. Dark's eyes snapped up and locked in on Daisuke, who was now holding his stomach as he laughed. "_He's laughing. Why is he laughing?_ I don't know. _Yeah, beats me. Ask him, Krad. Ask him why he's laughing._ No, you ask him. We aren't speaking to him anymore, anyway. It doesn't matter why he's laughing. _But I want to know!_ I want to know, too. Let's ask him at the same time, then. Ready? _Yep._ What's so funny, Daisuke?" The girl on the other side of Krad just stared at him like he was crazy, giggling to herself.

"Y-you're talking to yourself," Daisuke laughed, wiping tears from his eyes as he did.

"Was I? No, no I couldn't have. Well, maybe…yeah, I can remember talking to myself," Krad began, holding his chin in serious thought. "_Ugh, how could you forget? You were talking to me!_ Oh, you. _Yes, me!_ No, you were talking to Krad. He's not here right now. _Of course he is! That's you!_ No, that's myself. I'm me, stupid. _Well then, who am I?_ If I'm me and he's myself, then you must be I, right? In which case, we're all Krad, no? We are all Krad…Daisuke were you saying something earlier?"

"Krad, to be honest, I'm completely lost," the red-head breathed, coming down from his fit of laughter.

"Hm, well you wouldn't happen to have any food on you by chance, would you?," Krad asked, feeling hungry all of the sudden as he gave Daisuke the once over. "Ugh, who am I kidding? You look like a twig. No food there."

"I really wish I did, Krad. I had to skip breakfast this morning," Daisuke sighed, rummaging through his bunny back pack for his notebook and a pen before a loud popping noise nearly scared the living daylights out of him. He glanced up from his bag to meet Dark's stare directly. Apparently Dark had blown air into an empty bag of chips and popped it; the sound echoing throughout the small room. Daisuke could just feel the blush creeping into his cheeks as Dark continued to stare at him with an expression the boy hadn't seen in the limited time he'd spent with him the past two days. Rubbing his index finger over his bottom lip as he stared, it was almost as if he wasn't actually seeing Daisuke just thinking about something in his direction; plotting something. After a few moments, a small smirk came over Dark's lips, making Daisuke bite his own lip, just wondering what Dark seemed to be thinking about; their eye contact broken only by the teacher who had just now realized the class was full.

"Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to Women's Studies 102!," the woman said, gliding around the empty space in the center of the room. "I'm Mrs. Kim, and I'll be teaching you all for the remainder of this year. Now we're all going to have a simple assignment today over this long-debated question: What makes a woman…a woman?" There were a few murmurs in the class before the girl sitting next to Krad raised her hand. "Yes?"

"Her anatomy," said the girl after Mrs. Kim pointed to her raised hand.

"Ah, you see my dear…her anatomy is what makes her a female. I want to know what makes a female a woman. And there-in lies the argument – is a female a woman merely because she is a female or is a female a woman because she strives to be?"

"Wait, what do you mean 'she strives to be?' How do you strive to be a woman?," the girl asked, not bothering to raise her hand again.

"Exactly. What do I mean? How can you strive to be a woman, if you have no clue what it means to be a woman?," Mrs. Kim asked, taking another turn about the room, before moving to her blackboard and scrawling out the word 'woman' at the top and underlining it. "Take this scenario for instance. You're a twenty-two year old female with a child at home and no husband to help take care of it. You, unable to find work, go into prostitution because you feel you have no other option. To others you seem like little more than a whore on the street, but if they knew your situation, would you be a whore or would you be a woman trying to make due?"

"I'd be a woman making due."

"Ah! But if it was her in the same situation," the teacher said, pointing to a girl sitting behind Dark. "You probably wouldn't take a second glance in her direction. Ha! 'A woman making due probably got that baby from being a whore.' This is the secondary thought that passes through most people's heads when they see a lady on the street. The notion that 'no, a real woman wouldn't stoop so low.' A woman would work two or three odd jobs to pay for a babysitter, food on the table, a warm bed, and clothes on their child's back. Which brings us back to this: what makes a woman a woman? Is she strong or is she weak? Is she smart or does she just know how to get what she wants? Is she opinionated or does she keep things to herself? Is it the clothes she wears that make her a woman or the man on her arm? Is she a mother, a business woman, or both? Are you a woman, because you say you're a woman or do you earn the right to be called one?" She waited for a moment to let the students ponder her questions. "I want at least a two and a half page paper on what it is to be a woman, due next time we meet. You can work on it up until the end of the class period, but when you turn it in, it should be typed in twelve point font, with two-inch margins and I will have my ruler at my desk checking each paper so mind your p's and q's. Remember, though, that there are no wrong answers here, just honest opinions." Daisuke frowned, not thinking that this would be the sort of class for endless papers. How wrong he had been, but even in glancing over at Dark, he could see that the violet one was thinking seriously about his paper – staring at a blank page while drumming his pencil on his desk. Daisuke watched Dark tap his pencil against his desk for what seemed like forever, blinking not even once. He hadn't even realized he was staring until the pencil stopped and moved across the table up to Dark's eyes, which Daisuke of course followed. He finally blinked, watching as Dark tried to find anything even remotely special about his pencil to see why Daisuke found it so intriguing, but failed sending the boy a confused expression just as the bell rang.

Clearing his head of the pencil that was admittedly putting him in a trance, Daisuke packed up his things and rose from his seat to file out of the class with everyone else, so desperate to get to the courtyards and hear about Saehara's club. He weaved his way through throngs of students, some of which were just dawdling in the halls, chatting it up and spreading the first rumors of the year. Smiling to himself when he finally made it to one of the many doors leading to the courtyards, Daisuke began his search for Saehara and found him after only about five minutes of looking. Saehara, spotting Daisuke as he approached, waved cheerfully at the small red-head, beckoning him over as he did.

"Hey! Glad you decided to show up. I'm really hoping you'll be interested in my club," Saehara said excitedly, gesturing towards Daisuke that they should talk as they walked to the cafeteria. "Cafeteria's this way."

"Oh, nice. I'm practically starving." Just as he said this, his stomach growled in its obvious agreement, eliciting an almost immediate blush. Saehara smiled and Daisuke just giggled nervously, his embarrassment clearly evident. "So…what kind of club is it?" At this, Saehara seemed to gain a spark of renewed energy, basically beaming at the question.

"It's the Photography Club. We talk about different types of photography, cameras, lighting, and that sort of thing." Daisuke raised an eyebrow at this, finding it somewhat intriguing. "Sometimes we're permitted to leave class early and go around the school to other classes to take pictures and things. Then, near the end of the year, all of our accumulated pictures get sorted through and many are even picked for the yearbook. Mind you, this is not the Yearbook Club, although we do help with some of the photographs and layouts. Because most of the pictures in the yearbook are our pictures, we like to think that the yearbook is really like a memento of our club."

"Oh, that sounds really neat. I might actually consider joining," Daisuke stated truthfully as he and Saehara entered the building once again, making their way to the cafeteria.

"Really? That's great! Oh, and this year, I get to be the vice president of the club, which I'm actually pretty excited about. I'm also in the school's Journalism Club which heads up the school newspaper, if you're into that sort of thing as well." When the two of them reached the cafeteria, Saehara pointed out a room just before the cafeteria doors which was filled with various and sundry vending machines. "This is where you can pick up snacks to get you through the day."

"Thanks. I was actually wondering about that earlier today. Hm, and about the Journalism Club – I'm not all that into writing, but I'll definitely think about the Photography Club, for sure." Saehara grinned in response, holding the cafeteria door open for Daisuke to pass through. The cafeteria was immaculate, to say the very least. A vast room the size of a football field stretched before him, taking the red-head by complete surprise. There were high, vaulted ceilings which extended to at least third story status, with a Sistine Chapel-like painting ranging from one end of it to the other – framed by exquisite moldings. The floors were covered completely in marble that was laid out in a checker-board pattern, only upstaged by the six extremely long wooden tables, which took up the majority of the space in the room. The tables bore similar carvings to that of the moldings on the ceiling and were all painted either black or white to match the aforementioned marble. On one side of the room was a wall of floor to ceiling windows garnished by flowy alternating black and burgundy curtains, which looked out onto the school's gardens. The other side of the room was where the food was; food unlike any you'd find in any normal schools. Each day there would be three different meals to choose from, all of which were prepared by actual chefs to the theme of the day, and of course, a decked out salad bar for those inclined to eat more lightly. There was also a section specifically for dessert for those sweet lovers. Today's theme was Italian and so the choices would include: eggplant parmesan with asparagus and wild mushrooms, cordon bleu chicken with gorgonzola, or a three cheese manicotti with spinach. Also includes your choice of either a chicken and gnocchi or minestrone soup. In any case, Daisuke was in awe of it all; his mouth watering merely by the smell in the room.

"Okay, you go get what you want and find us a place to sit. I'll get us some drinks," Saehara said, breaking Daisuke from his observations. Daisuke nodded, wandering over to where the delicious smell of the room was emanating from, looking over all there was to offer, before deciding on the eggplant parmesan and chicken and gnocchi soup. He found a seat at one of the incredibly long tables, still eyeing the grandeur of the place, barely even noticing when Saehara returned with food for himself and drinks for the two of them. "Here, these are for you." Snapping from his daze, Daisuke took the two cans of cola offered to him, looking slightly confused.

"Why'd you bring me two?," He asked quietly, opening one and taking a sip, before forking up some of his lunch.

"Oh, one is for your bruise." Daisuke cocked one of his eyebrows up, completely forgetting about the bruise he had gotten earlier that morning. "The candlestick bruise on your hip."

"Oh…that's right. Thanks," Daisuke beamed, taking the unopened can and holding it up against his hip, after lifting his shirt a little. "So, tell me more about your Photography Club. Do you guys use your own cameras?" Catching Saehara's attention, the brown-haired boy looked up from the manicotti he'd ordered and smiled, swallowing the food in his mouth before answering.

"Yeah, but the school has cameras available for use as well. Most people in the club use their own, though because they take pictures outside of school as well."

"Are the pictures taken outside of school used in the yearbook also?"

"Of course, so long as they actually have someone from the school in them," Saehara laughed, taking a swig of his drink afterwards.

"Hm, I may go shopping for a camera, then. Any particular brand you find works the best?"

"Well I use a Nikon, but really it's all about your preference," Saehara explained, using his hands for emphasis. "You can also try out the cameras in-store before you purchase one to see which one you'd feel more comfortable using. There are so many different-." Saehara was cut off by the squeals of seemingly all of the girls in the cafeteria, which was considerably more than half of the populous within the room. Apparently these hormonal girlies caught sight of an unbelievably delicious morsel of man candy and the overwhelming wave of shrilly cries was proof of it.

"Kya!," a girl not too far from Daisuke cooed, holding her hands to her face as she did. "He's coming this way! Maybe I'll say something to him!" The girl across from her rolled her eyes, before flat out glaring in the squealing girl's direction.

"Please. I saw him first," the glaring girl scoffed, adjusting her bra a tad.

"As if! Even if you did, it's not like he would be interested in two flat-chested nobodies like yourselves," a third girl chimed in, basically ruining the other girls' dreams with her rather large chest. Daisuke felt the curiosity getting the better of him and he, along with a few other guys started to look around to find out what all the commotion was about. Then he spotted him. A tall male clad in the school's uniform; his black slacks seemingly tailored to his long legs. He was wearing a white button-up and a maroon tie, layering with a black cardigan sweater that had the school's logo on it and three white stripes on the upper left sleeve, indicating that he was a third year. With his sleeves pushed up to his forearms, it was almost as if he were dressed casually rather than in uniform and with his hand in his pocket and a walk that expressed confidence in every step, it wasn't a wonder that to the girls, the man seemed like he popped off of a runway for menswear. Daisuke stared on, even as the male strode ever the more closely, a small smirk crossing those perfect lips as he returned the red-head's gaze, pushing violet strands of hair out of his eyes. Dark Mousy had commanded attention the moment he set foot into the cafeteria and he wasn't letting go of it any time soon. The small ruby-eyed boy hadn't even noticed Dark's attire as he left the room this morning, or for that matter, even as he sat directly across from him for an hour and forty-five minutes. It was only now that he stared at the male steadily approaching him, that he thought to himself that Dark looked kind of sexy. _No way. I would never think that. It wasn't even a thought, just a passing observation._ Shaking his head, he pulled his eyes away from the older boy; focusing on the eggplant parmesan he'd only taken three or four bites of, despite its deliciousness.

"Daisuke, are you blushing?," Saehara asked, somewhat amused, but fairly curious to know if and why the boy was in fact blushing.

"N-no, I'm not. It's just a bit warm in here," Daisuke answered defensively, shivering when Dark stopped behind him – a rush of actual warmth seemingly encircling him. He sat rigid; much too afraid to turn around. Looking up at Saehara, who sat staring wide-eyed at the male lingering at Daisuke's back, the red-head knew for an absolute fact that Dark was standing merely inches away.

"My, it seems I'm a little bit…parched," Dark said smoothly, his voice like silk as he spoke. "Anyone have something for me to drink?" Of the numerous people sitting around Daisuke, nearly all of them held up their drinks for Dark to take as he pleased. He smirked, glancing at the red-head who sat frozen like a boulder with a cool drink on his hip, before taking the drink with the hand that wasn't currently lodged in his pocket. Daisuke's head snapped up and he shifted in his seat to get a look at the man who just snatched his make-shift cooling pack.

"That's not…," Daisuke began, watching as Dark opened the can with one hand – the cool liquid fizzing at the top, which Dark just let spill over and run off the rim of the can to the floor. Once the fizzing had stopped, the violet-haired male peered at the now pouting Daisuke, before tipping the can to his lips and taking a sip in what was almost provocative as the little moan of satisfaction at the end sent shivers down the boy's spine. "…for drinking."

"What did I tell you about pouting, Red?," Dark asked slowly, before licking the cola residue off of the side of the can seductively. Daisuke's eyes widened, but he stopped pouting never-the-less, taking the can Dark held out to him and watching as the violet one sent a look he couldn't register to Saehara, then continue on his way to where the food was.

"Do you know who that was?," Saehara asked in what was a tone bordering admiration; people around Daisuke beginning to whisper and murmur, staring at him every now and then. Daisuke just waited for Saehara to continue, taking a sip out of the can Dark had just had his mouth all over, then in realizing it, cursed himself for sharing an albeit corny indirect kiss with the man. The three girls not too far from him saw this and immediately gushed, talking amongst themselves about a possibly adorable man-boy-couple. "That was Dark Mousy. Only the most sought after guy in this school by both females and males alike. Mainly the guys just strive to be like him, but there are a select few who do like him…uh…that way, I guess."

"I didn't realize he was that popular. Well, not up until the whole 'every-girl-in-the-cafeteria-squeal-now' moment not too long ago," Daisuke thought aloud, shrugging his shoulders as he did. "Just seems like a normal guy to me, at least so far." Saehara raised an eyebrow at this, tilting his head as he tried to make sense of Daisuke's words.

"What do you mean 'so far?' You do know him, then?"

"Well, I don't know him on a personal level, but I do know him," Daisuke explained, remembering his eggplant parmesan and taking a bite of it, savoring it as he chewed slowly before swallowing. "I suppose I might get to know him, though…" Saehara's eyes grew at Daisuke's last comment, urging the boy to continue. "…because he's my roommate."

"Dark Mousy is your roommate?!," Saehara asked, completely flabbergasted. Everyone surrounding Daisuke paused in their conversations, stopping full on to look at the supposed perfect specimen's roomie. Daisuke just nodded slowly, wondering all the while why everyone was so interested. "This…this is amazing! You…you have to join the Photography Club now, so you can take candid pictures of him for us for both the yearbook and the school paper!"

"Why me? Surely you'd want someone who's actually good at taking pictures to photograph him."

"No, it's hard enough trying to get any pictures of him, much less good ones. Please say you'll join us. Please!," Saehara said with acted desperation and Daisuke smiled at him, giggling as he did. The people around the table waited anxiously for Daisuke's reply, all of them wanting to see any and all pictures of Dark, while at the same time seething that Daisuke was lucky enough to be the violet one's roommate.

"Okay, I'll join," he said finally, taking another sip from Dark's violated cola can and there was an audible sigh of relief from those around him. Saehara grinned and the two of them finished their lunch quickly so that they could get Daisuke signed up for the club and acquire a temporary camera. After lunch, Daisuke's last two classes of the day, which happened to be history and algebra, went by smoothly and left him with only psychology and women's studies homework for the night. When he got back to the dorm, he found the room empty as Dark hadn't made his way back yet. Daisuke set his stuff down on his side of the room, before pulling off his blazer and hanging it up in the closet where he found nearly all of Dark's clothes on the floor. Rolling his eyes, he took to hanging all of Dark's stuff up in an organized manner like so: ties, scarves, short sleeves, long sleeves, cardigans, sweaters, jackets, hoodies, jeans, and then slacks. Once he'd completed his task, Daisuke began on his homework, which he immersed himself in until Dark got back from wherever it was that he went.

* * *

"What the fuck did I say about touching my shit?," Dark asked quietly, after walking into the closet to find that Daisuke had hung up all of the clothes Dark had brought from his previous dorm, which was technically still his – only now housing an evicted roomie. Daisuke glanced up momentarily from the psychology book he was reading. He had been assigned chapters one through three to read and review before the next psychology class met for homework, along with copying each chapter's definitions accompanied by a brief outline of the aforementioned text. Dark was standing in the doorway of their closet, scanning the small red-head as he waited for the boy's response.

"Hm?," Daisuke managed, still in the middle of finishing a paragraph. He hated to take breaks from reading, having been one of those 'start-what-you-finish' types of people, but if an event did occur in which he was forced to put his reading on hold, he seemed to always find a stopping place at the end of whatever paragraph he was currently on. Dark rolled his eyes waiting as patiently as possible for Daisuke to lend him his undivided attention, which is saying a lot, because the older boy really wasn't one to wait for anyone or anything. It really didn't do much to ease the situation that the boy in question was a ridiculously slow reader; the type to silently mouth every word he read. After a few minutes passed, Daisuke finally snapped his head up from his book, searching the room for Dark, before spotting him in the doorway of the closet, still waiting for an 'acceptable' response. "Sorry. What was it that you needed?"

"You hung up my clothes," Dark stated, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned against the door frame. Daisuke thought for a moment, and then nodded his head, trying to retrace his steps from earlier that day. He had still been in study-mode.

"Yeah, I did that when I got back from class. I just thought it might make it easier for you to find your clothes if they weren't scattered all over the floor. I guess it was also due to the fact that your clothes being on the floor kind of got on my nerves. Clothes are too expensive to be thrown around haphazardly," the boy mused, cracking his knuckles and stretching his back, having been sitting on the floor by the coffee table as he read.

"You can do what you want with your clothes, but leave my stuff the way I put it. I've already given you the rules and I suggest you follow them," Dark said tiredly, walking over to flip through some of the pages in Daisuke's psychology book.

"Have I broken any rules?," Daisuke asked defensively, snatching the book from Dark's hands while he searched for the page that he was on.

"I told you not to touch my things, which is pretty self-explanatory. If it's mine, leave it be."

"I assumed you meant actually going through your stuff like snooping. There is absolutely no way I can live with you for a year without accidentally touching something that belongs to you," Daisuke scoffed, dawning an incredulous expression. "Honestly, if you ask me, I did you a favor by putting your stuff away."

"I didn't ask you to do anything for me. Touching my stuff by accident and going out of your way to 'help' me are two completely different things. If it can be avoided, then call it a wrap and go about your business. That's all I'm saying," Dark explained, staring intently at the boy who seemed to be growing all the more frustrated. Daisuke, sitting between the couch and the coffee table, leaned back and let his eyes roll towards the ceiling, sighing heavily as he did.

"All of this fuss over a little straightening up? Really? It's okay to leave your clothes all over the floor in the closet, but if I just so happen to pick up a shirt and dare I even think it," Daisuke began, putting on a shocked expression and pausing for dramatic effect, all the while clutching his chest in a fit of acted hysteria. "Put…it…on…a…hanger?! Oh, heavens help us! It's the end of the world! Dark, whatever will you do? I've gotten my cooties all over your precious linens!"

"That's really, truly hilarious. You got me. You sure did," Dark said sarcastically, calmly sitting on the couch next to where Daisuke was laying his head.

"Speaking of rules…You know, just so we don't run into this little kerfuffle in the future, let's make a new one," Daisuke thought aloud, not even attempting to hide the tad bit of annoyance lacing his words. "I can't stand things being disorganized, so new rule. You keep your things in order and I won't have to clean up after you. How's that?"

"I don't think I like your tone." Daisuke looked up at Dark, who was also taking a keen interest in the ceiling, and laughed almost inaudibly in the older boy's direction.

"I don't care how you feel about my tone, so long as you get my meaning," Daisuke laughed, before feeling a strong hand in his hair.

"Yeah, but I don't think you get my meaning, so I'll rephrase." Grabbing a fistful of Daisuke's hair, Dark yanked the boy's head back so that he could clearly see the red-head's expression as he talked. He adjusted himself so that he was looming over Daisuke, smirking as the smaller boy jumped in surprise. Dark could tell Daisuke was uncomfortable by the sheer loss of color in his cheeks. Any trace of laughter that had once coated Daisuke's features was now extinct, leaving the boy in a state which could only be described as petrified – his eyes going wide as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Dark's fist tightened, pulling that soft and delicate hair so that the stress on the follicles of Daisuke's scalp sent a sharp pain down his spine. He ground his teeth together, sucking in air through them, before glancing up at Dark with worry in his eyes. "I find it rather unsettling when you speak to me that way."

"Ah, that…th-that hurts…," Daisuke whined, his eyes beginning to water slightly from the aching at the back of his head. Dark pursed his lips in quiet contemplation as he observed the squirming boy by his legs, deciding to ignore his whimpering. "D-Dark…"

"Yes?," Dark inquired, raising an eyebrow at Daisuke, as if he didn't know exactly what the boy wanted. After a moment, with no response, Dark leaned his head closer to Daisuke, laughing to himself as he pretended to strain to hear the boy.

"Let…let go, please," Daisuke breathed, loosely grabbing onto Dark's leg as there was nothing else for him in the way of movement.

"I don't know if I should," Dark said, running a finger down Daisuke's neck, finding it somewhat irresistible with the way his head was positioned. That pale flesh, so smooth to the touch. The violet one caught himself nearly grinning at the sight of Daisuke's pained face, swallowing the spit that was sure to be collecting at the back of his throat. Why the sight of this fear-stricken boy was so exciting to him was beyond Dark's comprehension at this point, but he stared on for a moment longer before continuing. "You seem much nicer when you're like this."

"Sor-…I-I'm s-sorry…I really didn't mean to…to make you angry," Daisuke cried, attempting to lessen Dark's grip on his hair, and failing miserably. At this, Dark chuckled sinisterly, pulling Daisuke's hair so the boy had to struggle his way backward and up onto the couch next to him.

"Do I seem angry to you? I assure you I'm just dandy…for now," Dark whispered laughingly into Daisuke's neck, feeling Daisuke struggle to keep still so as to not cause himself any more harm. At this point, it was all Daisuke could do to keep from all out bawling where he was. "But, don't…push me. Understood?"

"Y-yes…" Dark smiled, releasing Daisuke's hair and walking off towards the closet to get the hoodie he was looking for before he'd interrupted Daisuke's homework.

"Good." Daisuke frowned, wiping the tears from his face and glaring at the direction of the closet.

"You didn't have to be so mean about it," he huffed as Dark walked past the back of the couch, stopping right behind him as Daisuke spoke.

"Mean?"

"Yes, mean," Daisuke scoffed, crossing his arms as he pouted at the homework he no longer felt like doing. Dark smirked, leaning over the back of the couch to where Daisuke still sat and slowly wrapping his hand around Daisuke's neck, tightening ever so slightly. Staring at the back of the boy's head with an apparent gleam in his eye, he waited for a few lingering moments, before speaking.

"No, but I can show you mean." At this, Daisuke shook his head quickly; his eyes going wide once again, just hoping that Dark wouldn't do something horrifyingly terrible with the hand over his jugular. "Then be satisfied that I'm not in a bad mood," Dark whispered menacingly, placing a kiss on the back of Daisuke's neck, rubbing that spot with his thumb shortly afterwards. Daisuke remained petrified where he sat; holding his breath until he'd felt Dark's warmth disappear – the sound of the door closing with a soft click releasing him from his terrified state. He shuttered; his eyes flitting wildly about the room wondering to himself whether or not it was actually safe to be rooming with a guy so…so…What was he? Daisuke pondered this thought fruitlessly as he exited the room he no longer felt comfortable in, making his way to the cafeteria where he had dinner by himself. _What is he? Intimidating, for sure, but not so much scary as the threats he gave. 'Be satisfied that I'm not in a bad mood.' What would happen if he were in a bad mood?_ Daisuke shivered, putting his hand up to his throat where Dark's had been nearly an hour before, attempting to shake the image from his head. _Would he really have strangled me? Or was he merely joking – albeit distastefully? I'm thinking too much into this. He was probably just joking._ Taking a few more bites of his roasted lamb shank and herb infused potatoes, Daisuke pushed his meal away and made his way back to the dorm, which he was thankful was empty when he returned. Once in the room, he plopped down onto his bed, not even caring to change into something more comfortable, because it was nothing less than bone chilling in the air. His jacket was seemingly the only thing holding some semblance of warmth to the boy and he was glad for it, getting distracted from his thoughts as his phone began to vibrate against his ass – the phone having been in his back pocket. Shifting to his side, Daisuke pulled the phone out of his pocket and sliding the 'answer phone' bar on his touch screen, sighing as he brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Dai-chan! Your daddy left me!," Freedert wailed into his ear, causing the boy to hold the phone away from him as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Already, huh?," Daisuke chuckled, quietly. "I was expecting at least another month or so."

"And what is that supposed to mean?! You're supposed to comfort me!," she cried, fanning her nails as she did. Freedert had been painting her nails, holding the phone between her head and shoulder as she spoke. "It's so terrible! You have no idea!"

"Where did he go?," Daisuke asked, laying on his back as he gazed up at the ceiling. He had every bit of an idea of how Freedert was feeling, although he'd grown quite used to his father being away on excavation trips for weeks, even months at a time.

"Guate-fucking-mala! Apparently there's another super old dusty structure someone found and he has to go with a group of crypt keeper looking bastards to see it, instead of spending time with me! I don't even know how long he's gonna be gone for!"

"He didn't say when he'd be back?," Daisuke asked sullenly, watching as Dark unlocked the door and strolled into the room. There was a split second of eye contact, before Daisuke rolled over onto his stomach, deciding to ignore the older boy and focus on the conversation at hand instead. At this, Dark was apparently peeved, because as he stomped his way to the bathroom, he slammed the door behind him, making Daisuke all, but leap out of his skin.

"All he said was 'Darling, there's been a major discovery in Guatemala. I don't know how long I'll be gone for, but it may take a while.' And he says this as he's packing, leaving no room for discussion!," she fumed, yelling all the more loudly into the phone. "Ugh, the nerve! Aw, man! My nails!" As Freedert yelled, flailing her hands as she talked, she'd accidentally smudged the nail polish that was not yet completely dry.

"It's his job, Freedert. You knew this is what you were signing up for when you married the…," Daisuke began, getting cut off as Dark fell back across the foot of his bed. The red-head flipped onto his back, bringing his knees up so that Dark wouldn't be touching his feet as he glared angrily at the older boy who just stared back at him blankly. "…the guy."

"I know, I know! But…but it's so boring here!" Whining, Freedert continued to fix her nails, cutting her eyes at a maid who happened to walk by at that very moment.

"What are you talking about? There are plenty of things to do there," Daisuke said calmly, still eyeing the violet-haired hotty stretched out on his bed. He noted that the boy had taken to checking for split ends on his mess of overgrown bangs, with a small frown on his face, almost as if he were pouting about something.

"Yeah, but not by yourself! Daisuke come home! I can't stand being here by myself and all these icky people who keep asking me stupid questions like what I want for dinner!"

"Freedert, they're not icky people, they're the help. They're supposed to ask you what you want for dinner so they can cook it for you and you know I can't come home. I'm enrolled in school here and I intend to finish out the year," Daisuke sighed, rolling his eyes towards the heavens, so annoyed, he didn't even notice Dark crawling up the bed to lay next to him. "For Christ's sake, I've only been gone two days and it's your fault I'm even here in the first place."

"Please, please, please, Daisuke! You don't even like it there, 'cause I got a call today saying that you didn't even go to class!," she huffed, shooing away a woman who had just asked her what she'd like for dinner.

"That's impossible, because I was in all of my classes today," Daisuke thought aloud, feeling a warm heat down the left side of his body as Dark scooted closer to him, shifting on his side, propping himself up with his elbow and watching the red-head's conversation intently. Daisuke tensed at Dark's sudden closeness, but remained where he was never-the-less, feeling somewhat grateful for the make-shift space heater Dark had become. Freedert sighed, making a 'tsk, tsk' noise of disapproval as she did. "I'm serious. What did they say when they called?"

"They said that they were calling to inform me that my 'daughter' did not show up for any of 'her' classes today. A Miss Dai Suke, if I do recall correctly," she giggled, putting added emphasis on the feminine terms. Daisuke's eyes widened, remembering that he and Freedert had indeed signed him up by accident for the girls' academy. Then, much to his displeasure, he got an idea that, although annoying, could fix their little attendance problem and cure Freedert of her boredom.

"Freedert are you really that bored at home?," Daisuke asked hastily, pushing Dark onto his back and straddling him as he reached into his nightstand for Riku's room key and the schedules he had gotten at the Amame High sign-up. Dark, after his immediate shock, just relaxed waiting for the boy to notice that he'd rudely taken advantage of that poor ol' violet haired teen whose eyes were now alight with humor.

"Yes! I'm going to lose my mind, I swear!"

"Oh, when did you manage to find it?," Daisuke laughed quietly to himself, earning a sarcastic laugh from Freedert and a small smile from the male currently pinned between his legs.

"Really funny! We'll see how funny it is when I tell your father you've already been skipping class," she scoffed, balling her hands on her hips as she did, nearly dropping her phone in the act.

"You do realize that I've been enrolled twice, due to your antics, right?," Daisuke inquired sweetly, laying out 'Dai Suke's' schedules on Dark's stomach, which for added detail was clothed in a thin black t-shirt.

"My God! Are you still mad about that? It wasn't totally my fault anyway!"

"It was completely your fault," Daisuke corrected her, with a bored expression on his face. "And if you tell my father I've been skipping class for whatever reason, it won't do you any good, because when he calls about my attendance he'll ask for Daisuke Niwa, not some random female student at Amame High. So that threat was completely stupid on your part, but…if you're really bored, you can come be Dai Suke if you want."

"Ugh, why on Earth would I want to go back to school?," she asked snippily over the receiver, making rather un-lady-like gestures as she did. Daisuke pondered this question for a moment as he adjusted himself on his seat which he hadn't yet realized was Dark's body, even as the violet-haired teen placed his hands lazily on the red-head's thighs.

"Well, nice rooms, cute uniforms, and, of course…teenage males…"

"It's not like I could date any of them, anyway!," Freedert snapped, pouting heavily into the middle distance.

"You don't have to date them. Honestly, you didn't seem too vexed about being around them when you dragged me to the wrong sign-up. Now, I'm not really one to condone cheating on your spouse, but then again, I'm not really in need of a twenty-year-old step-mom either, now am I?"

"You really don't like me that much, do you," Freedert asked, sounding somewhat hurt at his previous statement.

"No, I don't like you, but I don't dislike you either," Daisuke replied, tossing aside both the keys and the schedules and running his free hand – the one that wasn't currently holding his phone to his ear – over the black fabric between his legs; namely Dark's shirt. Feeling the taut muscles of Dark's abdomen through his shirt, Daisuke finally realized that, yes, he was not sitting on his bed, and in trailing his gaze upward his eyes were met with those of an amethyst hue which steadily darkened with the seconds that passed. He withdrew his hand, rolling off of Dark so quickly that he almost fell off of the other side of his bed, earning a small smirk from the still seemingly relaxed teen. Daisuke sent a heated look in Dark's direction before continuing in his conversation – the violet one paying him absolutely no mind. "I-it's fine if you don't want to come. I can just throw out these schedules and you can stay home."

"No! I'll go! I don't want to be stuck in this house alone," Freedert blurted abruptly, as if Daisuke was going to immediately torch the papers. "I'll be there either tomorrow or the day after!"

"Great…," Daisuke said in an attempt to sound excited, but failing somewhat, at least by the set of violet eyes that rolled in response.

"Oh, but what about tuition? Surely it's expensive," she drawled out, clearly unsure of whether or not it would be okay to go about this plan.

"Oh, please. You're his wife. Spend his money any way you please, so long as there's still some left for me when he dies." There was a small gasp at the end of the line, which made Daisuke smile to himself. "I was joking, however, just think of tuition as payback for leaving you all by your lonesome. Aren't you supposed to be on your honeymoon or something anyway?"

"It's been postponed," she huffed, obviously upset.

"All the more reason to do what you want." At that, she laughed before saying her farewells and hanging up with a small click of the phone. Daisuke returned his attention to the tall male still lying comfortably on Daisuke's bed, rubbing his hand on his lower abdomen, where Daisuke had last touched him. "Why didn't you say something?" Picking up a pillow and whacking the older boy with it, Dark only caught the pillow mid-air and held it close to himself, smiling at the clearly embarrassed red-head.

"You were on the phone." This answer was not nearly satisfying enough for Daisuke and he, in turn, threw yet another pillow at the boy, completely missing much to his utter disappointment.

"You still could have said something," he scoffed, folding his arms about his chest. Dark merely chuckled at this, low and throaty as it were. "What did you come over here for anyway?"

"I was bored," Dark replied, staring into the middle distance, thinking to himself that he was indeed, still bored.

"Why don't you find something to do, then? Have you finished your homework, yet?," Daisuke asked, sounding somewhat like a parental unit, which even he found amusing.

"No," Dark said sullenly, glancing at his messenger bag which was filled with considerably more homework than Daisuke had.

"Maybe you should work on it, then."

"I'm not in the mood for homework." Daisuke eyed the older boy for a moment, cursing him for his incredibly vague answers.

"Then what, pray tell, are you in the mood for?," the boy asked, a tiny hint of venom lacing his words. It would seem that Daisuke's patience, when it came to his newest roommate was rather limited. "I'll have you know, that I'm not here for your entertainment." Dark remained silent for a moment, getting all the more comfortable as he stretched his legs out over Daisuke's bed, admittedly taking up most of it being that he was situated more in the middle, rather than one side. Daisuke couldn't help, but to eye him as he resituated himself, glancing at those long legs sprawled out beneath dark jeans that seemed to cling to him perfectly, while at the same time hanging slightly off of those narrow hips. With the way he was laying, the thin black shirt shifted upward a little, revealing some of the flat, toned stomach Daisuke had felt minutes earlier and the faintest hint of a happy trail where the skin met his belt line. And the thought crossed the red-head's mind, even though he'd be damned to admit it. _I just want to lie on top of him and snuggle._

"Careful, there goes that tone, again, Red," Dark replied, adjusting the pillow beneath his head, one hand under the pillow and the other laying limply on his belly. At this, Daisuke's eyes widened, remembering Dark's earlier reaction to that 'tone' – the sheer memory of it replacing all thoughts of Dark, the snuggle buddy. He froze immediately, just thinking about it. "But, you are correct. You're not here for my entertainment, no, however, that doesn't mean I can't be entertained by you."

"I…I don't understand," Daisuke said quietly, seemingly confused beyond belief. Dark eyed the smaller boy in all of his uncertainty, finding him to be rather cute and chuckling when Daisuke began to blush under his stare.

"I want to watch you."

"Watch me?" The words, to Daisuke, although simple in their nature, seemed to have a sort of naughty feel to them, mainly because of the way Dark was looking at him as he said them. "W-watch me do what?"

"Whatever you want." Daisuke bit his lip, thinking back to his previous idea, but then again, he didn't think Dark would warm up to the prospect of being Daisuke's snuggle buddy.

"Can I take pictures of you?," the boy finally asked, after having taken forever to figure out what he felt like doing, which was lucky for him, because Dark was becoming increasingly annoyed by the wait.

"Pictures? For what?" He eyed Daisuke suspiciously, just hoping that the pictures wouldn't be for some creepy fan boy shrine or something of the like.

"I just joined the Photography Club and I haven't taken any pictures, yet," Daisuke began, hopping off of the bed to grab the camera he'd signed out from the school. "At the first club meeting next week, I'm supposed to have finished out a roll of film, which is like thirty-six pictures." Dark ran his hand through his hair, before deciding that he'd oblige the boy, if just for a little while.

"Fine, but only a few." Daisuke grinned, turning on the camera and moving to stand on the bed so he could snap a picture of the way Dark was sprawled out on it, looking particularly at ease with himself. "Hm, why don't you guys use digital cameras with memory cards? Those things hold a shit ton of more pictures."

"Oh, they do," Daisuke explained, readying his camera for another picture. "Sit up for me, please." Dark did as he was told, bending his legs and sitting up with his elbows on his knees, smirking at the camera as Daisuke snapped his picture. "No, it's just for the first week everyone has to take at least one roll of film so that we can learn how to use a darkroom. Apparently, some people like developing photos in darkrooms more so, than they like printing out the digital ones."

"What do you like more?," he asked, before smiling for the camera, finding the noise it makes when taking pictures kind of nice.

"I don't know," Daisuke said almost to himself. "I just realized this is actually the first time I've ever even used a camera." He giggled; capturing a picture of Dark's shocked expression, followed by one of the violet-haired teen laying back on the bed as he laughed at Daisuke's sheltered lifestyle.

"You mean to tell me you've never used a camera, and yet as if on a whim, you decide to join the Photography Club?," Dark laughed, beckoning Daisuke over to him – the boy obeying the small 'come hither' wave, albeit reluctantly. "Give me this." Taking the camera from the now blushing red-head, Dark pulled the boy onto his lap, snapping a pic of Daisuke's wide-eyed look of confusion, having been snatched up unawares and himself, sticking his tongue out in response.

"Well, someone asked me to join and it really does seem interesting. Besides, there's a first for everything," the boy said in his defense, scrambling off of Dark's lap, as he did and shortly afterwards getting a picture of Dark's over-dramatic pout. "I got offered to join the Journalism Club too, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Yearbook."

"Whatever feeds your needs," Dark said, shrugging his shoulders. "Picture time's over, Red. Think I'm gonna catch some z's." At this, the older boy slid off of the bed and made his way across the room towards his own, making Daisuke's heart stop, remembering that he'd sent Dark's sheets out to be washed.

"Wait!," Daisuke squeaked, before Dark had made it all the way to his bed. Dark turned to stare at the boy, his eyebrow raised in response to his protest. "Don't be mad, Dark…I-I sort of…"

"You sort of what?." Dark asked slowly, watching as Daisuke's hands visibly began to tremble for fear of a wrath worse than what he'd experienced with his homework. "Daisuke, what did you sort of do?" Daisuke just bit his lip, hoping beyond hope that Dark wouldn't explode on him for touching his things.

"I…uh…," Daisuke stammered, feeling his palms begin to get sweaty under Dark's piercing gaze. "P-promise you won't get upset?"

"No, I won't promise I won't get upset." Dark began slowly making his way back over to Daisuke, who, by the sheer stress brought on by the possibility of getting strangled to death, scrambled backward onto his bed and up to his headboard. "Tell me. I won't ask you again."

"Dark, I…I-I…" Dark was at the edge of Daisuke's bed now – the smaller boy nearly on the brink of hyperventilating; the fear in his eyes putting on a show. "I had y-your sheets taken down to the laundry room to be washed. Please don't strangle me!," Daisuke finally blurted out, his nervousness overwhelming him.

"Why?" The question had Daisuke puzzled. _Why would anyone in their right mind want to be strangled?_

"I'd rather survive the night, if that's okay with you," Daisuke pleaded, placing his hands on his neck defensively.

"Why did you send the sheets up, Dai?" Dark asked, looking at Daisuke like he was beyond stupid. The red-head paused for a moment, registering that fact that Dark had just referred to him as 'Dai,' somewhat liking the sound of it as he answered the question.

"There…t-there was blood on them. I'm sorry. I know you said not to touch your stuff, but this time, I really, really just couldn't help myself," the boy rambled on quietly, not daring to look up at the guy standing just a few feet away.

"Blood on them?"

"Yeah. This morning, you had a girl in your bed. She…s-she left blood on your sheets." Dark seemed confused for a moment, but quickly regained his wits as he recalled the girl from the night before.

"Oh, the virgin."

"What?" Shocked to his very core, Daisuke's eyes flew up to Dark's – a mixture of anger and disbelief. "You stole that girl's virginity and yet you treated her like a common whore the next morning?" Dark released a sigh, rolling his eyes to add to his look of utter boredom.

"I didn't steal anything. I hadn't even spoken to her for all of twenty minutes before she was begging to come home with me. She was a virgin. I fucked her. Now she is a common whore who gave it up to the first man to come knocking." Daisuke pouted, watching as Dark pulled off his shirt and began to undo his jeans, stripping in front of the boy unashamedly, before crawling over and climbing into the left side of the red-head's bed.

"But, it still just seems so-," Daisuke began walking over to turn off the lights, before taking off his slacks and his white button up, so that he was just in a plain t-shirt and underwear. He hesitated for a moment, then climbed into the bed anyway, guessing that Dark wasn't planning on sleeping in a bed without sheets. _We aren't doing anything, but sleeping. So relax._

"It doesn't matter how it seems, Red. If she didn't want to be treated like trash, she shouldn't have acted like it. Maybe next time, she'll have a little bit more respect for herself and find someone who gives half a shit." Daisuke said nothing, but silently agreed with him, just glad that the older boy wasn't too miffed about his sheets as he waited for the sleep to take him.

* * *

**Well, that's chapter two! Hope it wasn't too terrible! Review please! And remember, be honest. ^ ^ All criticism is useful criticism.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever owned any of the main characters of this story. Oh, but if I had...**

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CHAPTER THREE

_Mm, this is nice…_Dark thought to himself drowsily, still in the limbo between sleep and being awake – that state where you can feel, hear, taste, and smell everything, but you just can't bring yourself to completely snap from that cozy, lidded slumber. He inhaled the scent of white tea and ginger, mixed with something that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but he knew that it almost reminded him of springtime. That early springtime, where the fresh perfume of the newly blossoming flora seems to mingle with the last remnants of cinnamon and eggnog, still lingering in the air from the preceding winter holidays. A slight shift of the lithe body snuggled warmly beneath the still dozing teen, only made him bury his face deeper into this fragrant heaven, pulling the warmth closer to him, while at the same time, pressing it further into the mattress below.

"So soft," Dark murmured, adjusting himself on top of what he thought was just a really comfortable bed, earning a soft moan from the red-head pinned beneath him as his thigh, which was currently placed between the boy's legs, brushed up against the smaller teen's nether regions under his weight. Dark had mistaken this moan for his own, so content with nuzzling his face upon the smooth skin of Daisuke's neck. He gasped at the feel of the small body brushing past his own groin in an attempt to curl up closer to Dark's warmth, the aforementioned red-head having also been one to cling to an unbelievably comfortable sleep. Not satisfied with what little attention he received from the super comfy 'mattress,' Dark slowly pushed his hips forward, gaining the friction he was looking for as he smiled into Daisuke's skin; the smaller boy gasping a little as well – Dark's movement having sent shivers down his spine. He continued to wind his hips, rocking against the boy who lazily imitated the motion; his tiny fist clenching the sheets on the edge of the bed as his unbound leg slid over Dark's side in time with his own less than upbeat tempo. Picking up his pace, Dark ground the boy into the bed, hearing those soft moans increase in both quantity and volume; the sound only fueling his determination to find release.

"Ngghh," Daisuke moaned loudly, before biting his lip, having what he thought was an incredibly realistic dream about getting felt up in the dark. His entire body tensed; arms clinging tightly about Dark's hips as the older boy sent him spiraling into a euphoric abyss – Dark, himself, following soon afterwards.

"Mm," the violet-haired male hummed, draping himself over Daisuke in what was little more than an olive-toned heap of dead weight. Still having had his face in the crook of Daisuke's neck, his violet eyes slid open leisurely, focusing in on a mess of rubicund locks which seemed to dance as his breath ran through them. He closed his eyes once more, snuggling closer to this red-haired boy, before realizing that he'd just dry humped the living daylights out of him just minutes ago. This time, his eyelids flew open, just praying that the boy would still be asleep, not for fear of the boy's reaction, but rather because he was in no mood to come up with a rational explanation for himself. He propped himself up with his hands, taking care not to disturb Daisuke lest he was still asleep, although that's what he was silently wishing for. In peering at the boy, it was apparent that his breathing was a bit unsteady, but he was most certainly, for the most part, very unconscious. Letting out a heavy sigh of relief, Dark scanned the petit male beneath him, noting the faint blush coating his supple cheeks and the plump, half-parted lips that made him look so…_Adorable. He's adorable._ Smiling to himself as he passed a quick glance at the clock which read six twenty-eight in the morning, Dark resituated himself on top of the boy, planting a gentle kiss on his throat. "Daisuke…" He sang Daisuke's name into his hair, almost playfully as he continued to trail kisses along the side of the red-head's neck.

"Hm…" A small frown formed on the smaller male's lips as he stretched, trying to resist the idea of waking up. Dark laughed at this, running his tongue up the boy's Adam's apple, before biting him swiftly on the left side of his jugular. Daisuke's eyes popped open immediately, hazily searching the room until he'd locked in on the purple-haired teen that seemed to be smirking at him. "Dark, did you just…," he asked, bringing his hand up to his neck. "…did you bite me?"

"Why? Did you like it?," Dark inquired with a small smile etched on his face, still lying on top of his albeit confused roomie.

"W-what? N-no, I didn't," he squeaked, not knowing how to feel about the way Dark was staring at him – eyes alight with what seemed to be a hint of lust. Daisuke was less concerned about the fact that Dark was on top of him, than he was with the apparent wetness in his boxer briefs. He had actually had a particularly delicious dream that was most definitely not suitable for daytime television, but the slim chance that Dark was aware of his dirty unconscious thoughts was terrifyingly horrific, to say the least. Heat began to prickle at Daisuke's face as it was swallowed up by a vibrant hot pink blush. _Did I say anything in my sleep? He must have heard me if I did. Oh, God! He did! That's why he's looking at me like that…Stop looking at me like that! Oh, no…no, no, no…_Daisuke thought frantically, tossing his arm over his eyes as he tried to shut out the violet eyes which seem to taunt him with the words 'Oh, yes…I heard everything…' _Wait, if he had heard me saying…things in my sleep he would have said something. On second thought, maybe he wouldn't. I don't even know this person, yet he's in my bed and on top of me. Good lord, why is he on top of me? Or rather, why don't I mind?_ "Could…c-could you not, maybe uh…" Waving his hand in the general space between himself and the older male, who was apparently amused beyond all belief, indicating that Dark wasn't all that welcome in his personal space; his arm never falling away from his blushing face. Dark just laughed quietly, sitting up so that he was no longer squishing the boy, taking the comforters with him as he did. Daisuke shivered; the cold air in the room immediately ousting any ideas he may have had pertaining to a return to sleep as he wrapped his arms about his body.

"Get up," Dark ordered cheerfully, poking Daisuke's stomach as he did, before rolling off of the bed and sauntering into the closet. Daisuke shook his head, pouting as he hastily pulled his blankets back over his body even as the bed seemed to have lost all of its coziness. Rolling his eyes when he exited the closet to find the smaller boy once again curled up beneath the covers, Dark yanked the offending blankets away from the bed, tossing them clear across the room as he did and earning a tired groan from the red-head they revealed. "Breakfast, now. Get dressed."

"Dark…," the red-head's whining doing nothing to sway Dark's resolve. Even as he protested, he slid out of bed, grabbing the first pair of pants he saw, tugging them on shortly afterwards.

"We'll eat before getting ready for class," Dark said as he pulled on the black t-shirt he was wearing the night before, smirking at the boy who was now struggling not to trip in the older boy's jeans. "And those are mine." The violet-haired male had settled on a pair of baggy, gray sweat pants, which although casual to the point of bum-ish, still looked fairly attractive. Daisuke sighed, obviously a bit irritated, having been woken up like he was, but decided to go with the pants anyway, buttoning them with slow deliberation.

"Ugh, why are your legs so incredibly long?," he huffed, noting that the hems of Dark's pants were dragging so much so, that the boy couldn't see his own feet. He took to cuffing the jeans, before searching for his shoes and socks. Dark smirked, watching as Daisuke slowly wandered about the room, those jeans barely held up by the boy's tight hips.

"Got something against long legs?"

"Not long legs, no - all legs longer than mine." At this, Dark chuckled quietly, following Daisuke to the door and locking it once they were both outside. As they made their way to the cafeteria, they seemed to come across more and more females, who all smiled in their direction, pointing and whispering to their friends. Daisuke figured they must be falling over themselves for a chance to see Dark all disheveled and fresh from the bed, but alas, even in his morning state, he appeared just as modelesque as he did during school hours. Little did he know, some of the girls were fawning over his mess of rouge tresses and colossal eyes of garnet only highlighted by the faint blush of his cheeks, deeming him one of the most adorable creatures ever to grace the halls of the establishment. It didn't help that he was wearing jeans that were obviously too big for him and in seeing who he was with, the girls could only assume that the only logical explanation for this was that they were Dark's, and of course they would be correct. Daisuke, so immersed in his observations of the girls, who were all pajamas and googley-eyed, began to fall behind, what with Dark's strides being naturally longer than his; this thought bringing him back to the idea of cursing all people with abnormally long legs. Dark turned, no longer feeling like he was walking with company and glanced up to find Daisuke muttering to himself angrily.

"You're so slow," Dark chided, placing his hand in Daisuke's hair, which by the way, was unfathomably soft, mussing it up as he spoke. The smaller boy frowned, glaring down at Dark's legs in comparison to his as he shook the hand from his hair. The girls began to squeal at this familiar gesture, basically drooling over the couple before them. They liked to picture Daisuke clinging to Dark with a stuffed animal of some sort, uttering small cries of 'Kya!' in the distance. "Stop that."

"Stop what," he muttered, peeved at himself for being so jealous of things that were not within his control.

"You're pouting."

"I'm not," Daisuke huffed, deepening his pout all the more. He was so transfixed on the fact the he was given the literal 'short' end of the stick in life that he hadn't even noticed that he was in fact pouting.

"You are," Dark accused playfully, shoving his hands into his pockets, and leaning in to get a closer look at the pout he was sure his eyes were seeing.

"I am not."

"I can see it. You are indeed pouting." Daisuke glared at him, even with the pout still on display, folding his arms about his chest in a way that was almost brat-like, earning small laughs and accusations of cuteness.

"Dark, I'm not pouting," Daisuke snapped; this whole argument turning into not one of being right, but rather one of endurance and Daisuke most certainly was not about to lose to someone as tall as Dark.

"Daisuke, I'm looking at you right now, and low and behold, there's a pout on your face," the older male laughed, tilting his head to the side as if to get a better look.

"There is not, so stop saying it."

"Then what is this?," Dark asked, putting on a pout much like the one Daisuke was wearing. Daisuke eyed him for a moment before answering. An ever-growing crowd of girls squealing at the sight of Dark pouting.

"That's a pout," he sighed, rolling his eyes as he did.

"I'm copying you."

"No you're not, because if you were, you wouldn't be pouting."

"Of course I would, because you are," Dark replied, poking Daisuke in the chest and leaving his finger there, which like it was supposed to, had the boy quite annoyed.

"Stop poking me!"

"If you're not pouting, then I'm not poking you." At this, Daisuke glared at him for a full minute before he began to laugh, genuinely amused, albeit a little upset that he'd been had. Dark removed his finger from the boy's chest, smirking all the while. "See now, that's much better."

"My goodness, you guys are bickering like children this early in the morning?!" The smooth, silky voice commanded the attention of both Dark and the still giggling red-head as honeyed irises flitted from one to the other. Krad stood firmly with his fists on his hips having the likeness of a parent who has just walked in on their kids making a huge mess. He was wearing all white; a tight-fitting, long-sleeved shirt that had three buttons at the collar and a pair of white linen pajama pants, which seemed to have a flowy appearance even as he remained still, drawing little attention to his fluffy white cloud slippers. Yes, they were cumulus cloud slippers, which had a light blue raindrop on either the left or right side of each slipper, indicating the foot on which they were supposed to go.

"Good morning, Krad," Dark said not even looking up to see who had addressed him. Krad winced at this greeting, closing his eyes – his twitching eyebrow the only thing giving away his irritation.

"Good…G-good morning?," Krad repeated, his head cocked to the side, with one hand still on his hips and the other held out in front of him as if to halt the unwanted greeting in its tracks before it had the chance to get near him. "No. Uhn-uh!" As Krad spoke, his head swiveled on his neck; the waves of golden hair that was usually in a pristine ponytail was now piled up high in a messy topknot, his bangs and stray tendrils of hair spilling over and framing his face just perfectly, even as they fell in a state of disarray. Daisuke smiled, thinking to himself that in all honesty, if you hadn't known Krad was a male and just happened to pass by at this very moment, the blond could fool you for an unbelievably flat-chested beauty, especially with the attitude he seemed to be sporting this morning. "No, a good morning would be waking up sometime later than 9A.M. A good morning would be walking to the cafeteria with no traffic what-so-ever or…or shrilly screams and waves upon waves of God awful perfume. A good morning would actually be a good morning, not some ass-backwards humdrum stupid morning where people greet you with 'good morning' although it's actually anything but! So no! Save your meaningless 'good morning' for a real one, Darkie-poo and ask me if I'm having a good day at lunch! Hm?" A small hush fell over the hall in front of the cafeteria doors as people took in the reality of the situation. Dark Mousy was apparently being torn a new one. The dark-haired male tucked his hands into his pockets, rocking back on his heels, before taking a few measured steps towards the blond who only watched him cautiously.

"Have you lost your fucking mind?," Dark asked quietly, his tone completely calm and level as he passed Krad a sideways glance. The blond just shook his head slowly, meeting Dark's cool gaze with his own, now much calmer than he had been before. "Then, can I assume something unspeakable has happened this morning; something that could push you to tread so carelessly onto such…dangerous ground?" Daisuke didn't know why, but the sudden shift in Krad's attitude gave him the impression that he wasn't the only one slightly intimidated by Dark and it was something that truly frightened him. Krad's eyes popped up as if on cue to say that yes, something unspeakable had happened and Dark let out a sigh, curling two of his fingers in a gesture that beckoned for a detailed explanation. "Out with it."

"Oh Dark, it's such an excruciatingly painful memory! I…Oh, God! Okay, are you ready? 'Cause this is some heavy stuff," Krad began, his eyes like liquid gold with the horrifying remembrance of whatever happened to him that morning. Everyone was all ears, just waiting for what they thought was about to be a gruesome tale. Dark nodded his head in response and Krad cleared his throat, preparing to tell all. "So I wake up this morning and everything's going fine. I brushed my teeth, made my bed, and everything is just perfect – hunky-dory. Anyway, as I'm walking over to grab my slippers, I spot the hair-tie I had lost the night before, mind you, I had been raising hell trying to find it and well, lookie where it was; right in the middle of my floor. It was turning out to be a fine morning that it was."

"Really, Krad?," Dark scoffed, becoming all the more bored with this terrible story. "Get to the point."

"I'm getting' there, Dark. Be patient. Jesus, this is why I never tell you anything," said Krad, waving away the little glare Dark sent him. "Now, while I was searching for my hair-tie last night, I moved my bookcase just a tad, to see if it had fallen behind it somewhere. It hadn't, I mean obviously because I found it in the middle of my floor, but I digress…the kicker? I forgot to move my bookcase back four inches to where I had it, so on my way to my closet, I stubbed my toe. And look!" With that, Krad kicked off his left cloud slipper and pointed to his big toe which seemed to have a tiny chip in his toenail. "Now I have to wait for it to grow a little before I can make my nails even again!" He pouted, looking borderline distraught as he glanced down at his toe. Some of the girls in the hall gasped, obviously feeling Krad's pain; Dark having rolled his eyes and sauntered off into the cafeteria, leaving Daisuke all by his lonesome.

"Uh, Krad. It's really not that noticeable," Daisuke quietly offered, trying to cheer the blond up just a little.

"I know it's not that noticeable, but I still know it's uneven," Krad whined, using his hands for emphasis.

"I could fix it for you." If there was one thing to know about Daisuke, it was that he was a man of many trades, including cosmetology. He had joined the maids at his house in mani-pedi parties on more than a few occasions and was proud to say he knew his stuff. Krad eyed the boy for a moment, figuring if his nail was already messed up, it wouldn't hurt to see what could be done about it.

"Anyone got a nail kit," he asked, holding his hand out and picking one of the five or six cases held out to him. Taking a seat on the floor, Krad placed his foot in Daisuke's lap as the boy quickly clipped the other side of Krad's chipped nail and filed down the middle of it so the offending toenail was now completely uniform. Krad stared at his toe, then back to Daisuke, his eyes seemingly overflowing with joy as he handed the nail kit to the nameless random he'd gotten it from. "Th-thank you." If the girls in the cafeteria hallway weren't already gushing over Daisuke before, they had all begun to now, thinking of the possibility of having an adorable personal mani-pedi touch-up specialist who would follow them everywhere. "Have breakfast with me and Satoshi?"

"Sure," Daisuke answered happily, forgetting that that's what he was on his way to do before all of the commotion. Krad searched the people around him for the small bluenette he had come to the cafeteria with, failing to spot him in the process. Daisuke had noticed Krad's searching and decided to look for the boy as well; figuring Satoshi must have been the quiet, glasses-toting guy the blond was always with. "If you're looking for Satoshi, he's already eating." Pointing Krad in the direction of the aforementioned bluenette, he saw that both Satoshi and Dark were already seated and enjoying their breakfast.

"Ugh, the nerve!," Krad scoffed, taking Daisuke's hand and dragging him into the cafeteria where he hastily grabbed up two servings of the Belgian waffles, eggs, and bacon for himself and the red-head who would've preferred the French toast, but was never given the chance to state his opinion on the matter. "If you hadn't just brightened my morning, I would be over there right now, ripping those two limb from quivering limb." Because Krad was carrying the food, Daisuke took it upon himself to gather up two orange juices and two cups of coffee with cream and sugar, before making his way to where the blond had just joined Dark and Satoshi. It seemed as if Krad was giving them an earful, just as he'd approached. "You guys couldn't be bothered to wait for anyone, huh? And those are Daisuke's waffles, fool!" Swatting Dark's hands, Krad warded off the violet one's attempt at the waffles Daisuke honestly didn't want.

"That's fine. He can have 'em, Krad," Daisuke stated as he arrived on scene, catching a glimpse of the French toast that Dark had only taken one bite out of. Dark shifted in his seat to give the smaller boy space to sit, moving his orange juice out of the way, before taking the waffles he'd just been granted permission to eat. Passing Daisuke a look of confusion, as he was handed both the cup of coffee and orange juice, Krad only frowned, labeling the red-head a pushover when the boy merely shrugged his shoulders in response. "You don't want this?" Dark eyed the French toast Daisuke had picked up and waved it away with a small scowl on his face.

"I don't even know why I got that. I've never liked French toast," he commented, taking a sip of his orange juice. Daisuke beamed, silently chanting _Oui_ triumphantly in his head as he took a bite of the unwanted French toast, smiling all the while.

"How can you dislike French toast? I mean that's like saying you hate air," Daisuke admonished, completely taken aback by Dark's latest statement. He was under the impression that even people who were allergic to bread still ate French toast with EpiPens in their pockets.

"That's a rather bold statement on your part, Daisuke. Let's see if it holds. If I may," Krad began, getting Daisuke's happy nod of approval, before forking up a piece of the boy's French toast. Daisuke offered Satoshi a piece as well, which he took albeit more reluctantly than Krad, eyeing it and savoring it soon afterward. "Why, that is delicious, if I do say so myself. There's something wrong with your taste buds, Dark."

"He's right," Satoshi added stoically, rising from his seat as he pushed away the pancakes he was indulging in up until that point.

"Where are you off to?," asked the blond who would have been upset if Satoshi left as soon as he'd sat down to eat, although he'd be burned at stake before you could ever get him to admit it.

"To get more French toast." Daisuke grinned at the bluenette who returned the look with a tiny almost nonexistent smile.

"Oh! I'll join you!" Rising from his seat, Krad took off after Satoshi, who didn't have the consideration to stop and wait for him.

"Are they always like that?," Daisuke inquired, almost rhetorically as he picked up a piece of perfectly crisped bacon and quietly munched on it. Dark raised an eyebrow at this, begging the question as to what Daisuke's definition of 'that' was. "Seems like Krad is always chasing Satoshi's coattails, although, I could just be over-thinking things."

"No, you're right. We've known Satoshi for years and I honestly can't remember a time that Krad wasn't following that guy around. If it wasn't me, it was him, for sure."

"So, are they together?"

"As in a relationship? No, just very close friends," Dark answered, pouring brown sugar on his bowl of oatmeal, which Daisuke found to look supremely appetizing. "I wouldn't be surprised if they came to be more, though." Taking a gulp of his coffee, Daisuke thought to himself that he could definitely see the two of them together as he watched the couple bickering in the line for French toast. Well, it was more like Krad was speaking animatedly in Satoshi's general direction as the bluenette occupied his thoughts elsewhere. "That reminds me…I want to make a new rule." Daisuke snapped from his musings, giving Dark his full attention.

"Okay, I need to remember to make a list of these rules, if we're gonna keep coming up with new ones," Daisuke thought aloud, taking yet another sip of coffee.

"This is the first new one."

"No, no. I really want to add the one about keeping our things tidy," Daisuke explained, somewhat hoping Dark wouldn't kill him on the spot. "I really can't stand clutter." Dark narrowed his eyes a bit, but accepted the rule, none-the-less.

"Fine, but here's the new one. No cuddling," he said, stirring his oatmeal around, before taking a spoonful of it and bringing it to his mouth, all the while trying to assess Daisuke's thoughts on the rule.

"Well, first off how did you get reminded of cuddling when you thought of Krad and Satoshi? They don't seem like the type of people to cuddle. I mean I just picture Krad hugging a big block of ice." Dark laughed, taking another bite of his oatmeal, as he did.

"Well, just the idea that they're a couple and couples cuddle. We won't do that." Daisuke frowned, partly because he wanted the oatmeal that Dark kept unknowingly taunting him with, but also because he didn't even remotely remember cuddling with Dark to begin with. Sure, he woke up with the man on top of him, but did that mean that they were cuddling all night? No one can surely say.

"That's a stupid rule," Daisuke scoffed, still eyeballing Dark's half-empty bowl of maple brown sugar oatmeal.

"What's so stupid about it?," the older boy asked, pushing his oatmeal away as a sign that he was through with it; Daisuke snatching it up accordingly.

"Think about it, Dark. We both have separate beds. It's pretty safe to assume we would never even be in the same bed to cuddle in to begin with." As he said this, he took a bite of the oatmeal Dark had just discarded, which was indeed as delicious as he'd thought it would be, licking the spoon clean and letting it dangle from his lips. _Well, what's a cuddle anyway, if I keep sharing indirect kisses with this man?_ Daisuke immediately dropped the spoon back into the bowl, but not until after taking another bite of oatmeal. "Even if we were in the same bed, it'd be you who would break the cuddling rule." A few of the people around them, who just so happened to be blushing girls, began to listen intently to this nosebleed of a conversation, in the cutest sense, of course. Dark was so busy replaying the scene of Daisuke licking that spoon clean, that it took him a moment to realize that the red-head had accused him of being cuddle-prone.

"You're saying I'm the one who should be worried about breaking the cuddling rule?," Dark asked incredulously, just as Krad and Satoshi returned with their French toast. "How so?"

"The only reason I could think of that would even make you want to come up with such a stupid rule in the first place would be this morning," Daisuke explained, gulping down some orange juice as he spoke. "And if I recall correctly, you were doing all of the cuddling."

"I was not cuddling with you." At the conversation they'd walked into, both Krad and Satoshi stared at each other with matching expressions of 'what the actual fuck,' respectively.

"Dark, why else would I wake up with you on top of me?" As this went on, more and more people began to take notice - squeals and giggles rippling throughout the room.

"Because you were clinging to me so tightly with your cuddling ways, I couldn't muster up the strength to get away, especially not so early in the morning," Dark alluded, waving his hand at Daisuke and his 'cuddling ways.'

"Bullshit. Prove it," Daisuke tossed back, giving Dark the stink-eye as he did. Satoshi, Krad, and everyone else who was listening in on their conversation all had their eyes on Dark, waiting to see how this plays out.

"Well, you slept pretty well, didn't you? Maybe a little too well," Dark began, that little hint of something dark and lusty returning to his now darkening eyes, reminding Daisuke of the dream he'd had before he was woken up. "I'd tell you what woke me up this morning, but I think you already know." Daisuke blushed a crimson hue, biting his lip as his worst fears had come true. _So he did hear me? But, if the sounds I made in my sleep are what woke him up, then why didn't he wake me up then, instead of waiting for me to apparently climax as my underwear would attest? My dream was well over by the time he woke me up, I know it. Then that must mean…those lips were…_

"Dark, if you are telling the truth, you've still got some explaining to do, because when I woke up this morning, my arms weren't wrapped around you, but placed at my sides," the red-head said softly, eyeing the violet-haired teen as he continued. "And I distinctly remember your mouth trailing up my neck before you bit me…" Daisuke wasn't sure if that last part was his mind's work of fiction or if it had really happened as he felt it, but the look of shock registering on Dark's face had confirmed his suspicions. _Was that all really a dream, then? Or had the entire dream been inspired by what Dark was doing to me as I slept?_ Krad could not believe his own ears, turning to Satoshi for some sort of reassurement, which he got in seeing the bluenette's mouth hanging open just slightly.

"Well, then it would seem we both need this rule in the hopes that you keep your hands off of me and my mouth off of you," Dark finally replied, his face returning to that calm, blank state as he set about cutting up his waffles. Fan girl screams could be heard echoing off of the walls of the cafeteria, just as the whispering began.

"Wait a second…Why were you in his bed to begin with?," Krad asked, honestly wanting to know, having thought Dark to be a ladies only type of guy. Satoshi, as much as he'd like to pretend he wasn't listening, found that he wouldn't mind knowing that information either. Daisuke waited for a moment, in an attempt to see if Dark wanted to answer this question himself. The older male just ignored the question, continuing to slice up his waffles silently.

"Dark stole some poor girl's virginity and got blood all over the new sheets my step-mom just bought for the room. I had them sent out to be washed and he wouldn't sleep in a bed without sheets. Not surprising, 'cause it's like an ice box in our room. You need all the warmth you can get," Daisuke answered for him, finishing off Dark's oatmeal.

"Daisuke, I'm not going to tell you again. I didn't steal her virginity, she threw it at me."

"Right, just like you weren't cuddling with me this morning and I'm guessing like you aren't eating those nonexistent Belgian waffles right now," Daisuke scoffed, earning a death glare that could kill him, wait for him to be reincarnated, and then kill him again just for shits and giggles. "Okay, I'm sorry! Jesus, you're scary!" Krad noticed the atmosphere beginning to take a nosedive toward frigidity and changed the subject accordingly.

"Well, what classes have you guys got scheduled for today?," he shot the question out to the open, hoping to somewhat lighten the now very damp mood. "I've got to have at least one of you in one of my classes today! Surely you fools didn't leave me alone!"

"We wouldn't have much of a choice in the matter anyway, Krad," Satoshi cut in, uttering his first real contribution to any kind of conversation they'd had this morning. "If we aren't in any of your classes, you can't lay blame on anyone, but the people who make up the schedules."

"Of course I can! You losers waited until the last minute to sign up for your electives, which means that if you're not in any of my miscellaneous classes, I can lay blame to whomever I so choose," the blond ranted, throwing up his hands at those boys around him. "Daisuke, you I must exclude from this. I wasn't even aware of your existence three days ago." Daisuke chuckled quietly; fully aware that the male across from him was not directing this tongue lashing at him. Dark and Satoshi made no attempt to argue the fact that yes, they hadn't signed up for electives on time; Dark not having signed up for any at all, not that he felt like letting Krad in on this info. "Ugh, just tell me what classes you're taking." Satoshi went on to tell Krad that he was to be attending an advanced physics class, Introduction to International Business, Pre-Calculus, and a last-minute forensic science elective, which to him, just seemed like an easy A. "Really, Satoshi? Intro to International Business?"

"Seemed like it would sound good on my transcript." Krad paused for a moment, then nodded as if to say, 'Yeah, I could see that.'

"Dark, what classes are you taking?," he asked, only to be ignored by the teen who was sneaking a drink of Daisuke's coffee, looking off into a random direction when the red-head reached for his cup to find it empty. Daisuke frowned, in not remembering that he'd finished the coffee, but shrugged his shoulders and took a swig of orange juice instead. "Dark!" The dark haired male shifted his gaze to Krad, who looked rather displeased with the lack of attention being paid to him. "Your classes?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? Haven't you looked at your schedule at all?," Krad asked apparently miffed that he would have to wait and see if Dark was in any of his classes by eyeballing the classroom doors until the bell rang. "What person in their right mind doesn't check their schedule to see which classes they ended up with?"

"I'll know which class to go to, when the time comes to get to my first period. They are just classes, Krad. Teachers, homework…really it doesn't do me any service to dwell on the subjects of them," Dark answered tiredly, finishing off a piece of bacon. Krad sighed, forgetting that the violet one didn't care for such trivial things.

"Well, are you going to join any clubs, then?"

"I hadn't planned on it," he replied honestly, earning a startled gasp from the already frustrated blond.

"What?!," Krad eeped, his topknot bobbing on his head as he twisted his head from Daisuke to Satoshi, becoming all the more shocked that he was the only one surprised by Dark's lack of school spirit. "Dark, you are so boring! You should join the Drama Club with me!"

"The Drama Club?" There was an expression of disgust making its home on Dark's mug as he said this, shaking his head all the while.

"Yes, the Drama Club! And why are you making that face? Satoshi would join with me!" At this, Satoshi also shook his head; Krad pouting in response.

"I'm trying out for the tennis team," Satoshi commented, now having all eyes on him. The bluenette, no matter which way you looked at him, did not seem like the type of guy who would just up and decide he was into sports on a whim. Needless to say, the shock at the table was not unjustified.

"Really?," Daisuke asked; the only one of the three gawking teens that wasn't shocked to silence.

"Well, the school I'm applying to appears to accept mostly well-balanced students, so I think having a sport on my resume's list of extracurricular activities would be a strategic move at this point. This coupled with the fact that tennis, as a sport, is mainly a game of trajectories and being at the right place at the right time, assuming my endurance and stamina is up to par, I may very well excel at both the game and my future school's high expectations," Satoshi explained, arguably speaking the most anyone at the table had ever heard him speak at one time. This explanation, however, did ebb at some of the disbelief lingering about the group.

"Daisuke, you would join the Drama Club with me, wouldn't you?"

"Sure, I would," Daisuke said excitedly, shifting in his seat, which brought him rather close to the violet-haired male whose warmth seemed to permeate through his body even now. "Well, that is to say, if I had time. I just joined the Photography Club and I was thinking of joining Yearbook as well. I don't think I'd be really good at acting, anyway."

"You don't have to act, if you don't want to," Krad added quickly in an attempt to lure Daisuke into joining this club for the dramatic arts. "You can be one of the people who work backstage, designing sets and adjusting the lighting for plays. Pulling the curtains and things like that. It takes more than just actors to put on a good show, you know."

"I suppose when you put it that way, it does seem a little more interesting." Daisuke smiled at Krad genuinely, before finishing off his orange juice – the tanginess of it making him scrunch up his face and shiver in delight. "I won't make any promises, but I'll look into the Drama Club for you. Maybe I'll like what I find." At this, Krad grinned, nearly bouncing in his seat with joy. Dark let out an annoyed sigh, rolling his eyes to the high heavens, all the while wondering if Daisuke just decided to 'take a look' into every club someone asked him to join.

"That's all I ask," Krad replied, raising an eyebrow at Dark's apparent dislike of the idea of Daisuke in Drama Club. He continued to eye the seemingly peeved dark-haired male, who just brushed off his stare with a simple shrug which made the blond ponder whether or not he actually saw Dark rolling his eyes or if he was merely imagining it. "And since you'll be looking into Drama Club, I guess Dark could look into joining the tennis team with Satoshi."

"The fuck?," Dark asked in what was more like a breathy whisper, dropping his fork so that the sound of it hitting his porcelain plate seemed to echo through the dining hall. Daisuke glanced at the boy who seemed to be just thinking aloud with a look of confusion written on his face, picking up the fallen fork and taking a bite of the waffles Dark had spent the majority of his time cutting up.

"The tennis team. You're trying out for it."

"I don't do tennis," Dark huffed, his momentary shock replaced by his lack of interest in where this conversation was going as he took his fork back from the small red-head who was slowly nibbling away at the waffles he'd said he didn't want. The violet one wasn't fazed in the slightest by the little crumb-snatcher situated extremely close to him, much to Krad's complete and utter surprise as the blond knew that Dark wasn't one to share anything, much less his food. Shifting his gaze from Dark to his red-headed roomie, who was still happily munching on the waffles which were no longer his to eat, Krad couldn't help but to find the boy somewhat adorable, picturing him as an overgrown chipmunk with the way his cheeks were full of food.

"Honestly, as of last year it seems that you don't actually 'do' anything," Krad scoffed, still eyeing Daisuke and his Indian giving ways. The boy noticed his staring and smiled brightly at him, radiating a cuteness which demanded that the smile be returned. "I'm sure Satoshi doesn't want to try out for the team by himself, Dark." At this, Dark peered up at the bluenette who was quietly enjoying his morning coffee, trying his hardest to avoid joining in on the conversation at hand, but just shrugged his shoulders as the spotlight dawned on him.

"I don't really care for the matter," he answered softly, taking another sip of his coffee, before an elbow struck him in the ribs, just low enough so that if you hadn't been paying close attention, you would never have known it had happened; Krad glaring at Satoshi all the while. At the sudden pain in his side, Satoshi spat out the coffee he had just taken in mid-swallow, coughing as the hot liquid ventured into his windpipe. "B-but…but, it would be nice to have a friend with me." He returned the glare Krad had sent him which, due to its intensity, had the blond a little nervous as it were.

"Oh, I'll try out with you, then," Daisuke beamed, breaking off a piece of his bacon and popping it into his mouth, chewing slowly as three sets of eyes fell on him.

"Daisuke, do you even know the first thing about tennis?," Krad asked, noting that the boy didn't look as if he had an athletic bone anywhere in his body.

"Does table tennis count?" There was a moment of silence, before Krad began to snicker, trying his best not to laugh, and failing miserably.

"No, Red. If it were the Table Tennis Club, I'm sure you'd have this in the bag, but this is real tennis with courts and rackets. So here, your table tennis experience would go to shit," Dark answered coolly, finishing off his waffles. Daisuke rolled his eyes at the rudeness of Dark's statement, folding his arms about his chest as he did, making Satoshi smirk in his direction finding the red-head to be quite amusing.

"Fine," Daisuke scoffed, scooting away from the violet-haired teen as he did. "I never said I would make the team, but I can still try out with you so you won't have to go it alone."

"I appreciate it." Daisuke smiled in response, before gobbling up yet another piece of bacon.

"Daisuke, you won't have any free time to yourself if you keep committing to all of these clubs. Let alone, time for homework and things of that nature," Krad began, twisting his fingers in his mess of bangs, having long since finished his breakfast. "I just want you to be sure you aren't taking on more than you can handle."

"Oh, I'll be fine. In a sense, I'm choosing to fill up my free time with these clubs. Honestly, I'm not expecting to make it on the tennis team, so really I'm only taking on Photography and Yearbook. Possibly Drama Club, but that's to be decided later. I know for sure that the Photography club is really just about taking pictures whenever you get the chance. Not really all that stressful," Daisuke explained, using his hands for emphasis. "Besides, I'd much rather be running around with plenty to do, than be holed up in the dorm bored beyond belief like Dark's gonna be."

"Ha! He'll find something to do. I'm sure of it," the blond laughed, noting the glare Dark was shooting at the red-head from the corner of his eye.

"Please. Imagine how he's gonna feel when all of his friends are out doing extracurricular club activities and they don't have time for him, because he's decided that 'oh, he doesn't do clubs,'" Daisuke continued, running his fingers through his rubicund tresses, which still held that fresh from the bed look. "Frankly, it's boring and lame."

"I'm sitting right here," Dark sighed, a tad bit peeved that both Daisuke and Krad were speaking about him as though he weren't even in the vicinity.

"I completely agree, but clubs aren't for everyone," Krad added in his dissent, completely ignoring the violet-haired male. "And to be fair, Dark is not the most sociable person. I mean, most definitely not your go-to guy when looking for team players."

"I guess I could see that, and yes, clubs aren't for everyone, but in this instance, can you even argue that point without first assessing the fact that Dark hasn't even made an effort to look into any of them?" Satoshi nodded his head slightly, lifting his newly filled coffee cup in his agreement of Daisuke's latest statement. Daisuke and Krad had been so busy talking that they hadn't even noticed that the bluenette had left to refill his cup.

"You make a valid point, sir," Krad laughed, grinning at Daisuke as he did. "And if you happen to find any spare free time, perhaps you'd do well to look into the Debate Club also." Daisuke laughed at the idea of joining the Debate team. He'd never figured himself for the type of person who was good at arguing, but then again, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd argued with anyone. Freedert, he must exclude from the list of potential arguments as those were never even close to being on Debate Club level.

"I will try out for the tennis team." At the sound of Dark agreeing to try out for the tennis team, both Daisuke and Krad's laughter came to a screeching halt – the two of them shocked to silence.

"I-I beg your pardon?," Krad asked in a state of utter disbelief.

"I said I'll try out for that fucking tennis team," Dark answered calmly, glancing at Krad from under his long lashes. "You hard of hearing, Blondie?" Krad just shook his head, beaming all the while. Daisuke was smiling as well; the two of them having the appearance of crazy people to anyone who happened to look. _Wah! I'll get to see Dark play tennis, all sweaty and delicious. I can just see it now as he lifts up his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face; that face still glistening somewhat as he licks his lips preparing to serve…_ "Oh, would you both stop?"

"Sweaty…," Daisuke said aloud, coming back to his senses before blushing uncontrollably and shaking his head free of hallucinations. "S-sorry, I meant sorry." _What the hell was I thinking? Or more importantly, why on Earth would I find that even remotely attractive?_ Little did Daisuke know, the blushing blond across from him was brought back from his musings about a certain bluenette holding a racket laden with tennis balls out to him and uttering the words 'Here, love. Take care of my balls for me?'

"I'd be honored to," Krad drawled out, smiling lewdly into the middle distance, before catching himself, not unlike the red-head before him. "I mean I'll stop. Stop whatever it was I was doing…Uh, what were you accusing me of doing, exactly?" No one wanted to tell them that they were smiling and creepily giggling randomly, which to everyone else seemed as if they were giggling to each other.

"Okay…," Satoshi cut into the awkward silence, rising from his seat as other people began to leave the dining hall. "If you guys are serious, you'll be doing self-conditioning and the tryouts are Friday. We'll find out Saturday who gets to continue on to the next stage of tryouts and who gets cut."

"Wait, there are two stages of tryouts?," Daisuke asked, frowning slightly at the idea.

"With the amount of students expected to come out for the tryouts, they have to hold two trials so that enough people get cut. Say, you have forty people on the team. In competitions, they aren't going to judge forty matches, more like seven or eight, so your best seven or eight players are always going to get to play. Logically those other thirty-two players or so may as well not even be on the team," he explained tiredly, glancing at his watch as he did.

"That's terrible." Daisuke began to pout, but with one look from Dark, the boy settled for just biting his lip, which earned him a different look, but one that made something strange in the pit of his stomach begin to swirl.

"That's fact." And with that, Satoshi picked up his tray and took it to the discarded dish station at the far end of the hall, before making his exit; Krad smiled softly, soon after following suit, hot on Satoshi's trail. Dark and Daisuke sat for nearly ten minutes in silence, the awkward tension between the two of them almost tangible. After a painstakingly slow couple of minutes, Daisuke figured he might take his leave as Krad and Satoshi had done before him as it was a quarter after seven and he'd yet to get dressed for the classes ahead of him. Rising from his seat and holding his tray with one hand, Daisuke froze as a strong hand grabbed his wrist – those long fingers clasped around him in a vice-like grip.

"Daisuke," Dark said in what was almost a whisper, his tone demanding the boy's attention. He waited for Daisuke's somewhat fearful eyes to lock with his before continuing, staring at him with a look the boy couldn't register. "I'm trying out for that team, because I want to, not because you and Krad want me to. I've told you once before that what I do in my free time is none of your business, so whatever your motives are for getting me to join in with these clubs and the like better stop."

"A-ah," Daisuke whimpered, nodding his head as Dark's grip tightened on his wrist.

"I've been playing nice up until this point, Red, but understand me when I say this…," he paused, smirking as Daisuke's ruby red eyes began to shimmer slightly with the makings of fresh tears. "I will fuck you up in more ways than there are songs in this world to sing. Are we clear?"

"C-crystal," he said through his teeth, nearly dropping the tray full of glass dishes he was carrying when Dark released his hold on him.

"Good, now you go back first and get ready," Dark said happily, returning to his normal tone of voice. "I'm gonna grab another cup of coffee before I head back." Daisuke paused momentarily, then nodded his head before slowly making his way to where other people were dropping off their used glassware, still feeling those violet eyes on him as he walked. There was something about those eyes, he thought, something dark and sinister that made him feel completely helpless. Something in them seemed to draw him in, latching onto his gaze and never letting go – the boy just paralyzed with fear, unable to look away. _But, what was it_, Daisuke wondered on as he finally made it back to their dorm, heading straight into the bathroom and shedding his clothes as he did. _What was it that made me so afraid? I just froze. The way…the way he looked at me…I…_ The boy stepped into the shower, turning the heat all the way up so that the water hissed as it met with the cool marble base, sending up plumes of steam which filled the bathroom in mere minutes. He tensed, feeling the sting of the scorching water run over his skin before relaxing and sighing; his hair, now saturated with the steady downpour of the shower water. Trying to take his mind off of the thoughts that really weren't getting him anywhere but down, he put all of his effort into focusing his attention on lathering up his white bunny loofah and washing quickly as he'd like to be out of the room before Dark got back. Attempting to put his thoughts on hold was proving to be a much tougher task than he had anticipated, frowning all the while as he hastily washed and conditioned his hair. _'I will fuck you up…' What could he have possibly meant by that, besides the obvious damage to me in some way or another? I really wish he would have been more specific._ Stepping out of the shower, Daisuke continued in his thoughts, before a thick flow of suds slid from his hair into his eyes. He'd apparently been in such a hurry to get dressed and go that he hadn't taken the time to fully rinse his hair.

"Ah! Not good! Not good!," he yelped turning around and feeling his way back into the shower which was thankfully still running, rinsing out his eyes shortly thereafter. He took his time this second go 'round to make sure he'd gotten all of the shampoo/conditioner residue out of his now thoroughly rinsed hair, blinking his eyes rapidly which still kind of tingled from the burning chemicals he'd just gotten out of them. _He's gonna fuck me up, huh? Not if I beat him to it. Soap in my eyes seems like a fuck-up to me. Score one for the home team._ Daisuke chuckled at this, turning off the shower and stepping out before grabbing up a towel from the linen rack Freedert had also bought for their room. As he reached for the towel, he noted the angry-looking bruise marring the pale alabaster skin of his wrist where Dark had grabbed him only fifteen minutes before, scowling at it and rolling his eyes as he snatched up a towel and dried off. _Perhaps that's his idea of getting to me; a little bruise here or there. Ugh, why didn't he say how he was goin' to fuck me up, so I could avoid it? 'I will fuck you up in more ways than there are songs in this world to sing.' Oh…that's right. Now that I think about it, there really are a ton of songs out there…and in every language. Holy Shit._ At this realization, Daisuke sprang into action, not even stopping to fully dry his hair. The red-head was alive with determination, stumbling through the closet as he yanked on various articles of clothing and in two minutes flat, the boy had aptly dressed himself in black slacks, a white button-up, maroon tie, and a black fitted blazer with the school's crest in a white and maroon design on it. His cufflinks, which were made of silver, beheld a wreath design and the Roman numerals 'III' to indicate that he was a third year, despite his looking considerably younger than even some of his underclassmen. _So…I guess there's apparently any number of ways he could run me through, if he truly wanted to and I would be prepared for absolutely none of them,_ Daisuke pouted, slipping on his shoes and grabbing up his bunny bag and temporary camera as he left his dorm and began his journey to his first class. _I could easily avoid getting fucked up if I only knew the answer to this question: When? When is he going to launch his attack on me and my non-existent defenses in his quest to be my ultimate demise? I can tell by the look he gave me that this will most likely be a sneak attack. I'll have to play it cool and just be very elusive, because he can't crush me if he can't find me._ Smiling triumphantly, Daisuke adjusted white bunny backpack, which was hanging off of his left shoulder and marched on feeling so much better about himself.

"Red," a suave, velvety voice called out to Daisuke in greeting as the owner of said voice neared the boy, the taller male on his way to the place from which Daisuke had come. The red-head tilted his head slightly, before offering his own greeting in return.

"Dark," Daisuke said in response to the violet-haired roommate he was just thinking to himself about avoiding, stopping full on in his tracks when he realized he had just greeted this man. Noting the expression of fear creeping onto the smaller boy's face, Dark just shook his head, chuckling quietly as he passed him, taking a sip of coffee from the porcelain cup that he really wasn't supposed to have taken from the dining hall in the first place. Daisuke shivered as he heard Dark's hushed laughter – the sounds of it sending a chill right up his spine. After a few lingering moments, he glanced over his shoulder, watching as Dark continued on his path to their dorm. Releasing a sigh, Daisuke paused having realized that he'd been holding his breath for whatever reason and he shook his head, frowning all the way to his first class. It wasn't long before he found his way to Creative Writing 108, picking a random seat in the back, next to a row of floor-to-ceiling windows which overlooked the outdoors swimming pool – currently in use by the synchronized swim team. The boy huffed, so lost in thought that he hadn't even caught on to the scuffle occurring right next to him; a vicious battle between a two heated blondes, over who would get the seat next to the oblivious pint-sized prince.

"Daisuke!," Krad spat out in a fit of annoyance, having dropped his designer messenger bag in the aforementioned seat, before the guy he was arguing with had a chance to sit down. The red-head paid Krad no mind, just staring mindlessly into the Cherry Oak grain of his desk. _Maybe I'm just over-thinking everything. I mean with the way he was laughing as he passed me, it was obviously a joke I took too seriously, no? Was he even laughing? Yes, he was definitely laughing. Ugh, my stars! Why the hell was he laughing?!_ "Tell this hideous creature that this seat belongs to me! I saw it first!"

"Nothing was even funny…," Daisuke whispered under his breath, staring back out the window.

"Did you just call me a hideous creature?!," the other male yelled incredulously, not believing that he could possibly be 'that' bad looking.

"Yes…I…Did," Krad replied, swiveling his head with every word so that his ponytail added just a tad bit more emphasis; the both of them now right up in each other's faces – amber-toned eyes sparking a nearly tangible wave of hate towards a pair of equally intense emerald ones.

"Oh, it is on, now! The seat is mine, girlie, so why don't you and your little designer purse find somewhere else to look pretty?" At the mention of Krad's messenger bag, the guy pushed it so that it nearly fell out of the seat in question; his head snapping back and forth, not unlike the blonde's had, making his shoulder-length hair, which was also blonde, but a little more on the darker, dirtier side whip around his face animatedly. Krad caught the bag just in the nick of time, so that it wasn't dirtied by the floor.

"This is a Marchesa messenger bag, not a purse you blubbering imbecile. This thing costs more than your life!"

"Oh, please! That bag is obviously a knock-off!," he sneered, folding his arms about his chest as he did. "Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you made it yourself!"

"I would never!," Krad screamed, completely taken aback by his opponent's 'ludicrous' remark; his golden eyes now brimming with molten fury. "The mere insinuation that I would stoop so low as to purchase a false brand is borderline slanderous and frankly it's a little bit hurtful! You're lucky I don't design you a form-fitting sweater with razor blades sewn in the sides so that every time you take a step it performs as a makeshift skin grater!" The boy stood motionless, not believing the statement he had just heard. Those words coupled with the promise of death in Krad's yellowed irises had the boy quite shaken up to be completely honest.

"A-ah! Exactly, whoever just said something about that most likely very uncomfortable sweater," the instructor began, walking into the classroom at that very moment. "That is the kind of unhindered imagination we like to see here in Creative Writing, although we don't really want to act on all of these…wonderful ideas."

"It's a new take on multi-purpose menswear," Krad offered happily, moving his bag and taking the seat he and the sandy-haired male were fighting over – the stunned teen having been too shocked to make a move.

"I see…," said the teacher, taking off his jacket and draping it over the back of his chair, before picking up his class roster and glancing over it minutely. "You there! Please take a seat so that I can begin roll call and jot you guys down for the permanent seating arrangement." The recipient of this order, snapping from his horrified state, glared at Krad, but found a new seat regardless as students began to groan about the seating arrangement. "That's right! Where you're sitting now is where you'll be sitting from here until eternity, or rather until the end of the year unless you fail! Then you can repeat my class and since this is Creative Writing, where imagination is welcomed with open arms, if you don't like who you're sitting by, you can either whine about it or imagine that annoying classmate as someone you wouldn't mind sitting by. In other words, if you don't like the arrangement…TOUGH! You should've come early and found the seat you wanted." The teacher ended his spiel with a small smile, which however sweet, still gave off the vibe that he was a real no-nonsense type of guy. The groaning students quieted and the man went about calling the names on his list. Krad listened intently as he waited for his name to be called, frowning slightly when a tiny ball of paper hit the back of his head. In opening it, he saw that it read 'You suck, girlie! –Keiji' on it and he laughed, turning around with a wink and a smile directed at the seething caramel-haired boy sitting diagonally from him. "Krad Hikari…"

"Present and accounted for, sir," Krad said cheerfully, feeling oh-so-victorious with his recent win for the seat next to Daisuke.

"Ah, Mr. Razor Blades…check…," the teacher mumbled under his breath, jotting down that note next to Krad's name, then moving on to call other names. At the sound of Krad's honeyed voice seemingly right next to him, Daisuke broke from his recent train of thought about Dark possibly having asthma and the laugh he thought he heard being nothing more than a laugh-like wheezing of sorts. He glanced around the room, before cursing himself as he realized Krad was indeed sitting right next to him; beaming shortly thereafter.

"Krad!," Daisuke oozed, grinning in the blonde's general direction, causing the man who was currently filing his nails to nearly jump at the sound of his name.

"H-hey…," he replied quietly, noting that Daisuke had basically yelled his name at the top of his tiny lungs. "Oh, wait! You ignored me earlier when I needed your assistance! Way to be a friend, Daisuke!" A small blush flourished on the red-head's face making him appear beyond adorable as he tried to remember ever consciously ignoring his fuming 'friend.' _Yay! Krad's my friend!_

"When? I swear I didn't ignore you on purpose," Daisuke eeped, completely ignoring the teacher who had just walked over to the two of them, in an attempt to have his presence end the conversation at hand, tapping his foot as he did. "I must have just been lost in thought. You know I can't focus on more than one thing at a time." Tap, tap, tap.

"Ugh, must have been something important if it kept your attention like that. I'll have you know I had to chase that abysmal cretin away from this desk just to sit by you. It wasn't an easy battle, I assure you." As he said 'abysmal cretin,' Krad pointed his nail file at the person in question, not even caring to see the glare being drilled into him. Tap, tap, tap.

"Heh, sorry," Daisuke giggled, deciding that his next course of action would be to compliment Krad in some way so that his obliviousness wouldn't completely ruin the tiny bit of friendship he'd built up. "Nice bag, by the way. Looks expensive." Tap, tap, tap.

"Oh, this old thing?," Krad laughed, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Knock-off Marchesa…forty bucks Downtown…" Tap, tap, tap.

"You're kidding! Very nice," Daisuke chuckled as well, before having reached his limit with the tapping sounds replaying in his head. "Good Lord, what is that sound?"

"What sound?," Krad asked, also having forgotten about being in a full-blown conversation in the middle of class. Both Daisuke and Krad snapped their eyes up from each other and eyed the teacher standing mere inches from their desks. "O-oh…"

"Well, well, well…Cherry Bomb and Razor Blades," the teacher finally spoke, shifting his gaze from Daisuke to Krad; Daisuke frowning at the nickname given to him. "Those two don't sound like a very good combination, now do they?"

"Sir, although there are multiple definitions of a Cherry Bomb, one of them is an explosive device, so in a sense…both razor blades and Cherry Bombs can be used as weapons," Krad said nonchalantly, twisting his ponytail around his index finger. "If your objective was to inflict harm, those two would indeed go together."

"Mr. Blades, it seems you are very sharp, indeed, however," he sang walking back to his desk. "Would I really want such 'dangerous' objects placed so very closely to one another? I mean I wouldn't want any of my children to get hurt, now would I?"

"Your 'children' will be fine, sir. Children at play require adult supervision and I'm sure you're quite capable of handling anything they throw your way, no?" The instructor laughed at this, picking his roster back up and scrolling down the list. "Not to worry! If anything should happen, at least with this Cherry Bomb, we'll go out with a bang."

"Ah, yes. Hikari, is it?" Krad nodded, smirking as he did. Daisuke found it quite amusing, but at the same time, somewhat unsettling as that smirk was nearly identical to Dark's. Oh, how he didn't feel like thinking of that man again. "You've got your wits about you for sure and I'm absolutely positive that if provoked, you could in fact cut someone with that tongue of yours. In this class, however, we're about writing, so keep your words to a minimum and your pen to paper, please and thank you. That goes for you too, Cherry Bomb."

"S-sorry," Daisuke stammered out, putting on his 'Don't-be-mad-at-me' face, instantly pulling Krad and himself off of the teacher's bad side.

"No need to apologize, Mr.…"

"Niwa. Daisuke Niwa," the red-head announced, stirring up some whispers through-out the room, for whatever reason. The man smiled, writing 'Cherry Bomb' next to Daisuke's name on his roster.

"Well, Cherry. If you'd been paying attention as I was giving the roll call, I wouldn't have marked you absent, but since you're here, I'll have both you and Mr. Razor Blades know that I am Mr. Kunimitsu Goto, but you can call me Mr. G. and on the board you will find your assignment for today," he said happily, pointing to the word 'story' scrawled out lavishly on the board. "Write me a story. It can be about anything or anyone, if you'd like. Why, it could be a detailed rendition of what you had for breakfast and how you ate it for all I care, just make it legible and for heaven's sake, interesting enough to get through, please."

"When is it due?"

"On my desk at the end of the period, so I suggest you get crackin'," Mr. G. answered swiftly, patting a spot in the middle of his desk as he spoke. "I needs to get a feel for yo' writin', Cuz." A few people gave him the 'Eye of Judgment' for his ultimately failed attempt at throwing up gang signs, but there were a few people like Daisuke, who laughed if only to take away just a little of Mr. G's embarrassment. Daisuke and Krad had both finished their stories well before the end of class and filled up their time by taking pictures of each other with Daisuke's temporary camera; Krad actually attempting to pose, albeit dramatically and Daisuke just smiling cutely for the photos. None of this escaped the set of eyes – green, the color of jealousy, which followed the pair of them right up until class ended.

Keiji Saga sighed, having been forced to sit in a seat other than the one he'd had his forest-tinted eyes on; the sheer remembrance of the desk next to Daisuke Niwa being stolen from him had the boy glaring holes into the back of Krad's head. _Ugh, they've even been given nicknames. How cute…Well, it really is kind of cute, not that I'm actually interested or anything like that. I don't want one of those stupid nicknames anyway._ He looked on, letting out another long sigh as he flipped his paper over. _Yes, yes I do. Ugh, look at me! I'm even lying to myself! How is that even possible? Or rather, what's the point? It's not as though I could truly get away with hiding the truth from myself. No matter! I don't need to sit next to that ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-Cherry Bomb to ask him all my questions._ Running his free hand through his sandy locks, Keiji continued writing his story about a tall blonde with a beautiful ponytail who, on a mission to purchase a magical bag, sells his luxurious hair to afford it, but after buying the bag, he realizes that it's a fake and he, having spent all of his money, becomes a bum and eventually dies of starvation. He pulled his phone from his pocket and in glancing at the time, he noted that there was only about fifteen minutes left of class, which was perfect as he'd just put the finishing touches on his depressing tale. _So, the question is…when do I corner him? Man, I sound like a whack-job. Let's try that again. When do I drill him…for answers? Wait…When do I pry those precious lips open to retrieve the words which would quell my burning need to be answered? Okay, that's the creepiest one. When is the appropriate time to ask him questions? There, that sounds about right. Ugh, I shouldn't be so nervous! I only want to know if he dyes his hair and what size he wears…and maybe if he's gay. Just maybe, though. Oh, it'd be so cute if he were!_ Smirking in the direction of Krad and Daisuke, it was brought to his attention that he wasn't being all that secretive in his staring ways.

"Why don't you just go over there? He's only like two seats over and one seat up," said a boy with short, jet black hair, still hastily scribbling his story for the assignment. He didn't even need to look up to tell that Keiji was still drooling over the red-head. "Or are you looking at the blonde one? I never figured you for someone who likes blondes, Keiji." The man shrugged his shoulders at Keiji's sudden panic, seeing as he had said all of this while he was sitting right behind Krad. Keiji hadn't gotten his seat next to Daisuke, but he was still considerably close.

"Sh, Funa-kun! I would never have my eyes set on that menacing little toad of a man!," Keiji fumed, whispering angrily so that Krad couldn't hear him as well. The blonde in question, however, was so consumed with taking pictures and posing, that he couldn't give two shits about the conversation going on right behind him. "And I told you to call me 'sir'!"

"Right…Sorry, sir," Funabashi laughed, finishing his story about machines taking over the planet, which was incredibly long and only fit onto his sheet of paper, because he had insanely small handwriting, however, neat and perfectly written. Funabashi had been Keiji's best friend since as far back as he could remember, always there for whatever crazy-stupid-disaster plan the boy had come up with. Plans which, though often times thoroughly thought out, always seemed doomed to fail, but he was always there to pick up the pieces of Keiji who always broke down on cue, even when the stupid plans went to shit. This time though, was the first time he'd seen Keiji interested in a person, not some zany plot or twisted scheme made to boost his popularity. His plan this year was to establish himself as a 'higher-up' in society and to do that, apparently he needed to look like he had followers, so at least for Funabashi, this year he'd be Keiji's minion – not that he minded or that it was any different that his usual role as the blonde's best friend. He found himself suddenly frowning as he realized that yes, this red-head could be Keiji's first crush and he, as always, would remain Keiji's friend. But, for Keiji, if he couldn't be his everything, he'd settle for being his anything – his something and he didn't mind getting weird stares from others for doing it. This time he would be Keiji's slave and he would enjoy every minute of it, so long as Keiji was satisfied. "Sir, you've got T minus two minutes until your window of opportunity closes."

"Oh, hush up, slave!," Keiji answered briskly, biting his lip as he tried to think up a master plan for separating Daisuke from that blonde monstrosity. "I'm fully aware of how much time I have left!" With no plans coming to mind, Keiji shifted his eyes nervously from Daisuke to the door, hoping beyond hope that the bell would be late in ringing due to the fact that even should he come up with a plan in two minutes, it would be far too late to put it into effect. "Time?"

"T minus one minute and thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine…," Funabashi answered, having had a watch which measured down to the seconds. "Sir, you'll need to think on your toes and act quickly…sir." Catching Keiji's eye, Funabashi knew immediately the blonde wanted the time, which he, of course, would give him. "T minus thirty-two seconds, sir." Keiji just sighed in defeat, waiting those thirty-two agonizingly slow seconds for the bell to ring.

RING!

"Nooo!," Keiji wailed, dropping his head down to his desk, in the hopes that the coolness of the wood against his forehead would ebb away the pain stirring in his angry heart. "Funa, why is it, that I can never seem to win? This whole day was a total disaster! Oh God, kill me now!" Funabashi knew this was exactly the reaction that was coming. It would seem even if there was no plan, but there was a barely noticeable wish for one, Keiji would fall apart at the failure to execute. Some of the male students watched as Keiji slowly banged his head against his desk, whispering laughingly as they left the room.

"Keiji," the black-haired male spoke, drumming his fingers on his best friend's desktop, which like he knew it would, caught the boy's attention; those green eyes shimmering with a genuine look of lost hopes and dreams as he stared at the fingers before him. "It's only first period. You can't say the whole day was a disaster until you're in your 'I-hate-my-life' pajamas and snuggled up watching You've Got Mail on repeat with a pint of Ben and Jerry's Cake Batter ice cream." Keiji laughed at this, knowing full well that he's only ever truly having it rough when he's meeting those exact requirements. _Okay, before you judge me, You've Got Mail isn't a chick flick! It's dramatic and romantic, but it's a great movie and it helps me out of my depression like there's a light at that seemingly never-ending tunnel of perpetual darkness!_ "Besides, it's only the second day of school, so you'll have plenty of time to get to talk to the guy. Stop stressing."

"You're right, Funa," Keiji said, beaming up at the male who was quite a bit taller than himself. He stood, straightening his blazer and handing Funabashi his leather messenger bag to hold as they prepared to head to their next class.

"Well, look at your luck," Funabashi chuckled, taking the bag held out to him. Krad had said his goodbyes to Daisuke and exited the room shortly afterwards, leaving the red-head to continue packing his things, so as the classroom emptied, there was only Keiji, Daisuke, and himself, save for Mr. G, who no one cares about anyway. Keiji just smiled, staring at the smaller boy who struggled to pack up his things as the books he tried to place in his bunny bag kept falling back out whenever he sat the bag on his desk, huffing in a fit of sorts.

"It can wait," he said quietly, motioning for Funabashi to follow him out the door. "And I thought I told you to call me 'sir'!"

"Sorry, sir…"

Daisuke watched the last two students leave the Creative Writing class looking somewhat off, as he packed the last of his things into his bunny bag. Perhaps it was because one of them was carrying both of their bags, almost like they were sort of a couple. _Oh, wow. Could they have been a couple? Well, it's nice that they don't mind everyone else seeing it. Ugh, people have already found love so early in the year, it seems, but then again, they probably all know each other from previous years. It would just be nice to have someone of my own, I guess. Ah, I shouldn't be getting ahead of myself._ With that last thought in mind, Daisuke slung his bunny bag over his shoulder, dropping his paper about playing hide and seek with Towa in his father's mansion on Mr. G's desk, before walking out of the class and heading to English. _I kind of miss home, but I chose to come here and I'm gonna see it through. I wonder if they even miss me._ When he finally got to his English class, he plopped down into a random seat, only noticing later that Saehara also had this class, but was in a position where there were no available seats open around him. Daisuke didn't mind sitting by random people all that much, but it's always easier to adjust to a new class if you have at least one person you're familiar with present. Saehara shrugged his shoulders apologetically mouthing the fact that if he had known Daisuke had this class, he'd have saved him a seat. The red-head just smiled in response, taking time in this period to focus only on the subject at hand: English. It wasn't as difficult as he'd thought it would be, but then again, there was one guy who seemed to need every new word pronounced slowly and repeated constantly. He wondered if the boy asked for the drawn out lessons purposefully or if it really was that confusing for him, but he didn't judge, because in the Algebra class he'd be in the day before, he had been 'that' guy. It seemed as if every formula made his head spin which some people were grateful for, but others just huffed, so ready to move on with the lesson. Needless to say, English went by incredibly slowly and when the bell rang releasing everyone to lunch, there wasn't a soul in that classroom who wasn't thankful for it.

"Sorry, Niwa," Saehara sputtered, catching up to the red-head who was currently on his way to lunch. Daisuke had thought about waiting for Saehara, but in nearly getting run over by the other students filing out of class, he found that it was better to just go with the flow of traffic and meet up with him later. Seeing as Saehara caught up with him anyway, he just shrugged his shoulders, smiling as his friend stumbled his way through the crowd. "I would have saved ya a seat, if I had known you were gonna be in my class, man."

"No worries," Daisuke offered cheerfully, adjusting the bag on his shoulder. "I'm probably going to really have to pay attention in there anyway. Besides, the people I'm sitting by aren't too bad." At this, Saehara sighed in relief, having thought this little mishap – that really wasn't his fault – would have put a strain on what little friendship they'd had. He decided to tell Daisuke about the pictures he had taken, having used up his roll of film for their Photography Club assignment – mostly group photos and pictures for the story he was working on for the school newspaper about an energetic start for the new school year. "Oh, sounds interesting. I forgot you were joining up with the Journalism Club this year. I still need to join Yearbook and look into Drama, but I haven't gotten around to it yet."

"Wow, you're really going to join the Drama Club?," Saehara asked, genuinely curious as he and Daisuke entered the dining hall. "What got you thinking about that?"

"Well, a friend of mine really wants to join and I told him I'd see about joining myself, if I liked the club," Daisuke explained, motioning for Saehara to come with him to the line for food; the menu for today consisting of 'comfort foods.' "Apparently you don't have to be in the plays and productions to be in the club and honestly, it kind of sounds like fun."

"You know, that actually doesn't seem like a bad idea! You could certainly get a bunch of good photos of the plays for Photography Club!," Saehara said excitedly, grabbing up a hearty serving of meatloaf and laughing when one of the chefs gave Daisuke the once over, noting the boy's small size and giving him an extra serving of Shepard's Pie. Daisuke giggled at this, smiling weakly, even though the mention of his rather small stature was sort of a rough topic for him. It wasn't long before the two of them had filled up their trays with more food than either of them could probably finish, having had eyes bigger than their stomachs as they glanced about the room for a place to sit. "Oh! Over there, Niwa!" Daisuke's ruby eyes followed the direction Saehara was pointing and he saw a significant amount of empty seats near the two guys he had noted were in his Creative Writing class – the ones, which to him, seemed like somewhat of a couple.

"Hi, is anyone sitting here?," the red-head asked, pausing when a rather occupied blonde glanced up from his lunch and gasped in utter horror at that sight of him, dropping his fork immediately. The taller male with short, pitch black hair just laughed, nudging his 'boyfriend' playfully, before shaking his head and offering both Daisuke and Saehara seats.

"You'll have to excuse Keiji," Funabashi stated calmly, eyeing the blush that seemed to be spreading on the boy's cheeks like wildfire. _Adorable._ "He's just a tad bit shy when it comes to people he's not familiar with." _Or rather people he may have school girl crushes on. He's never shy like that. Ever._

"O-oh," Daisuke managed, blushing a bit himself, just happy that he wasn't really scary enough to make someone stop eating. Funabashi smiled briefly, but it didn't reach the deep, chocolaty stare that seemed to be off in a different world. Saehara saw this and although his reporter's intuition told him there was more to this 'shyness' than the taller male was letting on, he chose not to ask the questions that immediately popped into his head.

"I'm sorry. My name's Funabashi, but you can call me Funa, if you'd like," Funabashi went on, introducing himself. Daisuke shook the hand held out to him lightly, glancing from Funabashi to Keiji as he did. "And this is Keiji Saga. We're in your Creative Writing class, if you didn't already know."

"Ah, yes…You sat behind Krad, right?," Daisuke asked, still feeling somewhat awkward as he picked up his fork and took a bite of his Shepard's Pie, which was indeed as delicious as it had smelled. Funabashi nodded at this, still maintaining that distant look in his eyes; one that made Daisuke feel as though the guy didn't like him all that much.

"Wait! Keiji Saga?," Saehara asked in wonder, staring directly at the blonde who may as well have been a ghost with the way he was trying to remain unnoticed. His emerald eyes snapped up at the sudden exciting usage of his name, curiosity getting the better of him as he nodded if only to see where this was going. "The Keiji Saga?"

"Yes, that would be me," he said quietly, taking a sip of his grape soda as he did. "Why? Do I know you?" Saehara beamed at this new information, turning to Daisuke as he did.

"No, but I've heard of you! Niwa, this is Keiji Saga!," he said happily to the red-head who was confused beyond belief. "He's heading up the Drama Department this year and he's also one of the students doing much of the editing for the school's yearbook!"

"Really? That's great! I was just talking to Saehara about joining Yearbook and the Drama Club." Keiji's eyes got wide and he looked to Funabashi for some inkling of reassurance. This could not be happening. It was as if his luck had all of the sudden awarded him with the ultimate jackpot. If Daisuke did, in fact join Yearbook and the Drama Club, there would be no end to the time he would get to spend with the boy. Grinning broadly, Keiji had to shake the sudden urge to beg Funabashi to pinch him, feeling like this most definitely must be a dream. In a split-second decision, he snatched up Daisuke's hands, grasping them tightly in his before offering up his first real words to the boy.

"I would be honored if you would join Yearbook! Or Drama! Or…o-or both!," he sang, completely oblivious to the look of uncertainty creeping onto the red-head's features. Daisuke smiled nervously, just waiting for his hands to be released, eyeing Saehara for support. Saehara, having found no story here, went about eating his lunch quietly, leaving poor ol' Daisuke to his own devices. "Oh, please sign up! Oh, please! Oh, please! Oh, please!" Funabashi felt himself rolling his eyes, but quickly ceased, settling for a small frown instead. He, normally having full control over his feelings, seemed to have more trouble with it now that Keiji had actually found someone he was even remotely attracted to. He sighed, hoping that at least for the moment, his jealousy didn't show. It did, however, to a rather frightening violet stare that was also battling a jealousy of its own only one table over. Funabashi caught the glare radiating off of the violet-haired teen who was apparently sitting by himself as the look seemed to bore into Keiji with the intent to kill. Dark, for the time being was taking no prisoners.

"W-well, yes, I had planned to…," Daisuke replied, successfully freeing one hand, but sadly not the other. This didn't faze Keiji at all, as he held the boy's right hand with both of his, still beaming as brightly as before. "I would just like to know more about the clubs first…and maybe I could-"

"Niwa, do you know that guy?," Funabashi cut in, pointing to Dark as he spoke. Of the six incredibly long tables in the dining hall, Dark was on the second whereas, they were on the third. Being that Funabashi was facing the second table, he could clearly see the heated male basically fuming at the sight of Keiji's hands all over Daisuke's, rolling his eyes every now and then. Daisuke and Saehara both turned around to see who Funabashi was talking about; Keiji leaning over to see as well – all four sets of eyes falling on him simultaneously. "He's glaring."

"He's gorgeous," Keiji sighed, almost drooling at the sight of him.

"He's my roommate," Daisuke added, finding Dark somewhat sexy with the way he was giving out that devastatingly scary evil eye…not that he would ever admit it.

"He's coming this way," Saehara finished; the four of them watching as Dark, instead of walking around the extremely lengthy table, hopped up onto the bench and walked over it, stepping onto the bench on the other side so that he was now standing right behind Daisuke and Saehara. The few people that were eating lunch around him, stared with jaw-dropped expressions as he managed to journey across the table with such ease, never once looking as though he would fail or drop the tray he was carrying. Saehara scooted over, without saying a word, just making room so that Dark could sit next to the somewhat shocked red-head.

"Quite an entrance," Keiji crooned, smiling as Dark took a seat next to Daisuke; the red-head visibly shivering with the added warmth. He just passed the blonde a heated glance, clenching his jaw, before taking Daisuke's right hand out of Keiji's grasp much to Daisuke's utter relief. _My hero…Wait a second! I thought he was going to fuck me up…Oh, well. For now, I'm safe, I guess._ Daisuke hesitated for a moment, but let his hand linger in Dark's as he took another bite of his Shepard's Pie, blushing at the fact that they were holding hands. Keiji frowned slightly, just a tad upset that the boy didn't blush when he held his hand. Admittedly, he was remotely envious. "It's kind of hard to believe you were eating all by yourself." It was a simple statement, but the way Keiji said it, gave it a sort of snippy, catty feel. Dark merely glared in response.

"Well, I wouldn't really say he was eating," Saehara added, noting that Dark's tray was still chock full of food. Daisuke eyed Dark's tray as well, frowning at the fact that the violet one had probably only eaten like two bites out of everything he had.

"Dark, you barely even touched your food," he scoffed, letting go of Dark's hand and placing his hands on his hips like an angry mother. This earned laughs from both Saehara and Keiji; Funabashi just watching as Dark frowned slightly in response.

"I don't like it," was his reply, as flat and dull as it was, causing Daisuke to raise a brow in suspicion. The slightly peeved red-head picked up his knife and fork and took to cutting up a piece of Dark's neglected pork chop, bringing it to his mouth and chewing it slowly before swallowing.

"What's wrong with it, Dark?," he asked, licking his lips cutely in an attempt to get Dark to want to try it again. "Mm…It's yummy." Dark just shook his head, glaring at the pork chop he was avoiding. Daisuke cut up another piece of the pork chop and forking it up for him to try. "Here, just try it. Come on, it's just a little piece." He eyed the fork for a moment, seriously considering taking a bite, but then turned away, shifting his gaze out of the corner of his eye. "Ugh, Dark, you're such a wimp!" Daisuke couldn't help but to laugh at Dark's unbelievably cute picky eating habits.

"I'm not a wimp, Dai," Dark huffed, noting all of the eyes on him as Daisuke attempted to feed him, not that he minded people staring, but this was a situation where most people would be embarrassed, he supposed. Daisuke smiled at the fact that his roomie yet again, referred to him as 'Dai.' He really did like the sound of it coming from him. "It's disgusting and I'll have none of it."

"You haven't even tried it," the red-head sighed, eating the small piece of pork chop Dark had turned down, humming with delight as he chewed, hoping that this would encourage the violet one to eat it. Dark maintained his protest, folding his arms about his chest even as he watched the boy who was truly enjoying that 'disgusting' pork chop.

"And I'm not going to, 'cause it doesn't look good."

"Well, then. Try this," Daisuke said happily, scooping up some of his Shepard's Pie and bringing it up to Dark's lips. A couple of girls on the other side of Daisuke squealed in delight finding the red-head to be beyond adorable.

"What is it?" A perfectly arched brow rose at the hand poised to feed the violet-haired male. He glanced at Daisuke's plate which seemed, at least to him, more appetizing than his own.

"Doesn't matter, baby. It's delicious." At the use of the word 'baby' as a term of endearment, Dark's mouth dropped open just enough so that Daisuke could easily insert the fork, and by extension, the Shepard's Pie. Daisuke grinned at the look of shock he'd yet to see Dark express during his short time as his roommate, watching as he closed his mouth and slowly ate the sample the boy had basically force-fed him. Funabashi, Keiji, and Saehara all also had similar expressions of shock, due to the fact that they had all seen Dark seemingly at his scariest and a person who gives glares like that, most likely wouldn't let you call them 'baby' and get away with it or publically feed them, for that matter. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Dark shook his head slightly, rolling his eyes at the aura of victory just floating off of Daisuke in waves. "And?"

"It's good…" A smile spread across Daisuke's face, grinning from ear to ear as he basked in the lieu of his own success. _He likes it! He really likes it! And he's not strangling me for calling him 'baby!' Or for shoving a fork down his throat! Oh…What if he hadn't like it?...The food, not the name? Ah, who cares!_

"Here," Daisuke chimed after seeing the pair of hungry violet eyes, lusting after his Shepard's Pie. He picked up his plate, switching it with Dark's basically untouched one. "You can have this."

"I don't need all of it, Red," Dark said quietly, noting that Daisuke had recieved a double portion of Shepard's pie and he most certainly would not finish it all.

"Just eat what you can and I'll have the rest," the red-head said cheerfully as he sliced up Dark's unwanted porkchops. "Honestly, I don't know why you always pick up the food you either don't want or you know you're not gonna eat or even try." Dark shrugged his shoulders in response, quietly chewing away at his delicious new meal.

"It's because when he goes done the line for food, he doesn't look to see what they're offering. Dark just picks up the first item in every section he passes," Krad laughed as he and Satoshi arrived on scene, recieving a nasty glare from Keiji once he'd found a spot next to Daisuke - returning the look in kind.

"Well, that would explain the french toast this morning, but he wouldn't even try the porkchop."

"It looks weird," the violet one replied, cutting his eyes at the porkchop Daisuke had severed to pieces. Daisuke huffed at this, rolling his eyes towards the heavens.

"It looks fine, Dark. That's how a porkchop is supposed to look," he scoffed, waving toward's Satoshi's plate. "Look, Satoshi got a porkchop and he likes it." Everyone redirected their gaze to the bluenette who was quietly enjoying his meal, only to pause immediately and swallow a barely chewed chunk of meat as he noticed all of the eyes on him.

"Satoshi also likes oysters and those things are disgusting."

"Well you won't know if this is disgusting or not, until you try it." Folding his arms across his chest, Daisuke waited, watching as Dark pondered his latest statement. The older boy thought for a moment, but shook his head at the idea, nevertheless. "Seems like you're just afraid."

"I'm not afraid of trying your stupid porkchop, I'm just not in the mood for meat," Dark scoffed in his defense, even as he continued to eat his Shepard's pie which was chock full of meat.

"Yep, you're afraid," Daisuke sighed, stretching his arms out as he interlaced his fingers so that they cracked at full extension. "You're a scaredy cat."

"I am not," Dark muttered to himself, not even phased by the laughter of Krad, Satoshi, Saehara, and even Keiji and Funabashi; the five of them finding the couple to be quite the lunchtime entertainment.

"Yes, you are."

"No...I'm not."

"I think you are...," Daisuke sang, holding his finger up to his chin in mock contemplation. "Yeah, you definitely are."

"Daisuke, would you stop?," Dark asked calmly, although there was a slight glimmer of death in his eyes. The look threw Daisuke off for a moment, but he decided to just tough it out and ignore the promise of danger as it seemed that Dark, up until this point, hadn't even been backing up the threats he gave.

"I'll leave you alone, as soon as you try it," he replied quietly, with a hopeful expression. "That is...if you're not scared like you say you aren't." Dark only stared at him with a blank expression, but even that seemed like a threat within itself. Daisuke waited a little longer for a different response, expecting him to at least roll his eyes or even take the bait and try the porkchop, but alas there was little or no change in Dark's response as the seconds went on. "I thought so." As he spoke, he rose from his seat, glancing around at the people eating with him. "If you'll excuse me." Daisuke could hear Saehara whispering 'Well, where is he going?' as he made his way out of the cafeteria, but chose not to elaborate as he made a, at least to him, cool exit.

"Dark...," Krad began, but stopped shortly thereafter, watching Dark rise from his seat to follow the boy; knowing it was much to late to stop him.

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**That's it for chapter three! Hope it was okay! Review please! =D**


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